Legal aid fund for distressed OFWs sought

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito wants the legal assistance fund (LAF) for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) institutionalized and immediately available from the time of the distressed OFW’s arrest or charging until the final resolution of the case.

Ejercito is seeking amendments to the Migrant Workers’ Act of 1995 through his Senate Bill 157 tackled last week by the Senate committee on labor.

The bill seeks to speed up the release of the LAF to help distressed OFWs from the time they are arrested or charged until the duration of the court trial, as well as during appeals when applicable.

“If it is true that there are more than 3,000 cases against OFWs, then let’s have a plan to resolve them and be prepared to provide legal assistance to the reported 9,000 OFWs in detention,” he said during the hearing.

“Let’s also start saving the lives of around 88 OFWs reported by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) who are now on death row overseas.

“This LAF will be for all those who have been brutally abused by their employers, physically and emotionally, those who have been raped and sexually assaulted, those who never got paid for their services and especially those who have been wrongly accused of crimes. This is for the victims of mysterious deaths who receive no justice at all,” he added.

He said there are supposed provisions for the LAF in the national budget but these can be subject to veto by the President, as in the case of the previous administration.

But Ejercito pointed out that for distressed OFWs, the government, through consular offices and embassies, should be their sanctuaries for help.

Bare list

Meanwhile, Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo called on the DFA and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to make public their list of OFWs who have pending cases.

He observed that the practice of DFA is to inform the executive department or the public that an OFW is about to be executed “only a few days” before the execution.

He cited the case of Jakatia Pawa who was executed by hanging in Kuwait last Jan. 25 after she was convicted of killing of her employer’s daughter. Until her execution, Pawa has professed innocence.

The public only learned of Pawa’s execution a day before, when her brother appealed for help through the media after receiving a call from his sister informing him of her impending execution.

The DFA said it was informed of Pawa’s execution only on Jan. 24.

“If the DFA and OWWA had been on their toes, the notice would not have come too late,” Castelo pointed out.

“We would like to find out exactly how many OFWs have been convicted or are undergoing trial, the nature of their cases, the penalty they are facing, what can be done to help them,” he added.  – With Delon Porcalla