PRC helps OFWs call home

Overseas Filipino workers are some of the loneliest people on earth. They may earn more abroad and send home money for the kids’ education, to build a house, and buy amenities. But at night they miss their families and at work may suffer indignities from their employers. They don’t know where to go for help.

Now, at the click of their fingers, they can call home through an online platform, a project of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) which was launched Monday. This first-ever web application for OFWs is called Virtual Volunteer which runs on the campaign, “Gabayanihan:Gabayan. Bayanihan. Kahit saan. Kahit kailan.”

The Virtual Volunteer is a source of verified local information for OFWs that will help them remain safe and healthy at all stages of migration. Accessible through a  connected device, most likely a cell phone  or by landline,  the online platform allows PRC volunteers in Manila  to engage and respond to the needs of migrants and their families in the Philippines.  

“The number of migrant workers has become so significant,” said PRC Chairman Richard “Dick” Gordon. “The problem has become so big that we have to start where we can win. Information is as vital as food, water, medicines and clothes. Objective and timely information is something that emigrants could lean on after leaving their homes and families.”

The OFW abroad calls 143,  the PRC hotline, or trunklines +63 (02) 7902300 local  916 or contact by email [email protected]/[email protected]. PRC operators, based in Manila, answer the calls, talk to the OFW, and connect him/her to the persons/families they want to contact. 

Virtual Volunteer also gives pre-departure information to OFWs so they know what to expect or observe in their countries of destination.

The launching of the project, according to PRC secretary general Oscar Palabyab, “is a step in a right direction because it will provide power in the hands of those who want to go abroad. This whole thing is the power of knowledge. We want to give our people – those who want to migrate knowledge at their fingertips. Even before they go, they know already what to do and what to expect.”

Virtual Volunteer is developed by the IFRC and tech giant International Business Machines (IBM). It has already been rolled out in three countries – Greece, Sweden and Italy where it has been used by almost 30,000 persons.

“This is not an application that has been launched overnight, this is the culmination of months and months, if not years, of dedication and hard work by the Philippine Red Cross and supported by ourselves and our important partners,” IFRC Asia Pacific Regional Office, Regional Migration coordinator Ezekiel Simperingham said at the launch.  “We have launched this application in Greece, Sweden and in Italy, but this is the first-ever time outside Europe and the first time in Asia Pacific.”

The launching ceremony was attended by Palabyab, IFRC head of delegation in the Philippines Chris Staines, Simperingham, IFRC Philippine Country Office operations and programs manager Patrick Elliott, IBM Philippines Albert Marqueses, PRC welfare service manager Zenaida Beltejar, PRC local chapters, partner companies and organizations.

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ON ANOTHER FRONT. The best and brightest are chosen most outstanding alumni in community service by the UP Medical Alumni Society. Among this year’s chosen few, to be honored on Dec. 21 at the Fiesta Pavilion of Manila Hotel is Dr. Helen Agustin-de Guzman. A UP Medicine Class 1967 graduate, she was recognized as one of the Ten Most Outstanding Interns. But after graduation she involved herself in activities beyond the mere practice of medicine – and for these, she is recognized as the UPMAS  2017 outstanding alumnus.

Dr. Marita Tolentino Reyes, former dean of the UP College of Medicine, writes about the honoree thus: “Dr. Helen Agustin-de Guzman, through her professional work and community service, has been able to mobilize a community to rally behind the nation’s struggle for freedom, peace, justice and truth; to contribute to the resounding success of the NAMFREL movement to model good governance in the management of an emergency  hospital and  the establishment of several  Botika ng Barangay; to promote gender equality and responsiveness in conducting community programs and advocacy for reproductive health rights; to contribute to the attainment of the millennium development goals through prevention of maternal mortality in selected urban poor communities and TB DOTS compliance in the workplace to help instill discipline among the police; to contribute to preserving harmony in our society as a mediator and to help provide livelihood opportunities to the underserved. She is a true model  of one who loves her country!”

Let me elaborate on some of the accomplishments of the awardee. In 1986, then President Ferdinand Marcos called for a snap presidential election. Helen had to close her clinic for two weeks and was very visible in the NAMFREL movement in Valenzuela, Bulacan. As chair of the Parish NAMFREL chapter and co-chair of the Valenzuela City chapter, she was directly responsible for at least 20 barangays in the parish as well as other four parishes in the city. She worked with both the Comelec and DepEd and participated in the conduct of training of teachers who were assigned as Board of Election inspectors. She solicited help from friends and relatives to provide meals or transportation for the volunteers and teachers, literally transforming her home into the NAMFREL volunteers’ headquarters and main  kitchen. During  Election Day, she bravely stopped a group of armed Constabulary policemen from preventing the volunteers from entering the precinct as watchers. On Election Day, she led volunteers to keep a  24-hour vigil during the district poll count in Malabon.

 Her adopt-a-Volunteer strategy was so successful in Valenzuela that NAMFREL instituted it nationwide.

Through Helen’s initiative, Dr. Reyes writes, politicians gamely participated in Candidates’ Forums. These activities elevated the level of understanding and involvement of voters in the electoral process and gave people confidence in clean and credible elections. These also enhanced political maturity of candidates who learned to debate on issues rather than personalities. 

 For 14 years (from 1991-2005), she was elected by the Peace and Order Council to the first People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB), a quasi-judicial body established to discipline erring policemen.

In 2005, Helen was invited to join the mediators’ seminar to help decongest court dockets and speed up the justice system under the Philippine Judicial Academy of the Supreme Court.

In 2009 she joined women’s Health Care Foundation Inc. (WHCF) as its executive director, in which capacity she supervised the staff in the operation of three stationary WHF clinics and provision of mobile clinic services in nine marginalized communities, and a DOH-registered clinic laboratory and set up a Philhealth-accredited birthing home for low-income women.

She was conferred the 1997 Dr. Pio Valenzuela Memorial Award in Community Service, and St. Theresa’s College Alumnae Association in Quezon City City  as the 2014 Teresa’s Light: Women of Service awardee.

Dr. Reyes in nominating her for the PMAS award, writes, “At the age of 73, Dr. de Guzman’s passion for community service is undiminished, by actively contributing to the effective implementation of the RPRH Law.”

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