Unprepared, disorganized

The situation in Egypt, Libya and the Middle East caught the Philippine government unprepared, flatfooted. More than a week after Libya erupted, less than 1,000 Filipinos out of 30,000 OFWs have arrived in Manila.

Ambassadors are mandated to submit regular monthly reports to DFA and special reports for special situations. Especially after the upheaval in Tunisia, the Philippine Embassies in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and other neighboring countries should have sent an assessment of the developing political tensions in their area of coverage. That early, especially in the light of the Iraq and Lebanon experiences, DFA should have made evacuation contingency plans for any emergency situation.

Depending on the size, Philippine embassies, except Washington, Tokyo, Rome, Paris and Geneva have an average of five officers, five Filipino employees and four or five local hires. Funds are released quarterly and are very limited. As shown by the Egypt/Libya experience, an additional staff of five or six from Manila was sent to Egypt and $130,000 released for a voluntary repatriation program. Initially, the same was done for Libya. Thus, the slow repatriation of Filipino OFWs.

What should be done now? First, there should be an immediate assessment of the situation in Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Qatar, Algeria and other Middle East countries. All Middle East posts should now be given additional personnel, preferably three officers and three Foreign Service staff. OWWA which has a P12 billion reserve should also beef up their personnel in the Middle East. OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon admitted they lack personnel in the Middle East. We don’t even have an OWWA welfare officer in Yemen. The AFP should send more defense attaches. Contingency funds of $100,000 per embassy should now be released. Visa and consular fees in the embassies conceived should be made available for use by the Ambassadors.

The same repatriation plans should now be coordinated with PAL and Cebu Pacific, and maybe Emirates and Qatar Air for future evacuations.

China was able to evacuate 6,000 workers daily by the use of ferries by sea from Libya to Malta. Other Asian countries like Thailand acted fast, too.  

There are now thousands of OFWs who have been able to reach Egypt and Tunisia on their own. Why has no PAL plane been contracted to start picking them up? Several hundred people are now housed at the Philippine Embassy in Cairo. Just feeding them entails great expense. They should be picked up immediately. Planes should be sent forthwith to Cairo, Alexandria and Jerba Tunisia.  

The P-Noy administration early on showed a lack of concern for OFWs when it cut to P200 million the already limited fund for OFW concerns in the 2011 budget. Note that initially, only P25 million was released for Libya. After eight months, there has got to be a realistic re-assessment of allocation of public funds. Initially, at least P1 billion from the President’s contingent fund and the President’s social fund should be released to DFA.

As many as 100,000 OFWs from the Middle East and Taiwan may come home this year. Is the government now prepared to take care of them? I don’t believe so.

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BUILDING UP. . . The complaints against slow government action in Libya have built up. Most returning OFWs from Libya complained that they have not been assisted by any DFA personnel in Libya. OFW Dexter Tayab who hails from Baguio complained when he reached the Egyptian border, there was only one Filipino Consul issuing travel documents resulting in hours before one is issued with hundreds waiting.

Senators led by Senators Miguel Zubiri, Edgardo Angara and Jinggoy Estrada and Rep. Mitos Magsaysay registered their criticisms.

Sen. Angara was most critical in observing that while President Aquino was partying for four days at Edsa, OFWs were suffering and in danger in Libya, suggesting the President did not immediately take personal control of the repatriation programs. At the same time, 14 Filipinos were missing in New Zealand.

Sen. Zubiri put it aptly: “It’s still chaotic for our OFWs. They have no clue where they are supposed to go. If we judge the response of our nation, compared with our Southeast Asian neighbors, we are too little, too late.”

Contemplate this: Egypt had only 6,000 OFWs, Libya had only 30,000 OFWs. God forbid, if the same situation happens in Saudi Arabia where we have about a million OFWs or even UAE where we have about 100,000 or even Qatar and Bahrain with 50,000 each, are we prepared to cope with that bigger emergency? Definitely, not.

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WHY THE DELAY. . . The Supreme Court rejected a Malacañang motion for oral argument for its Motion for Reconsideration of its decision declaring the Truth Commission unconstitutional. It’s been three months since that decision was handed down. Why has it taken so long for the High Court to dispose of it? The same is true of the cases on Executive Order No. 2 and the Hacienda Luisita cases. The SC has been penalizing lower courts for slow action on pending cases. They should set the example themselves.  

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TIDBITS. . . Radel Cortez has replaced Winifredo Santiago as Secretary General of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). . .

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Employees Union (CAAP-EU) has come out to charge former CAAP Director General Ruben Ciron, an Airforce General, of a conversion type of operation involving the withdrawal of P400 million of CAAP funds before he was replaced and the misuse of $12 million of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) grant funds. . .

Three soldiers were killed and four others wounded in an NPA ambush in Ifugao. In Masbate, Genevieve Arizala, 33, a teacher was killed in an ambush outside Masbate City. . .

Tune in Thursdays at 5 p.m. to my radio program “Mr. Expose” over DZRJ-AM, 810 KHZ on your dial.