OFW and labor advocate Susan Ople urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to reconsider its decision to shut down the Philippine Consulate in Barcelona, Spain in view of the large number of Filipinos under its jurisdiction.

The president of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-profit organization that specializes on migration issues, noted that Filipinos in Barcelona have organized a Facebook account with over 4,000 members to ventilate their misgivings over the DFA’s order to shut down the consulate as part of its rationalization plan.

“We support the appeals of Filipinos in Barcelona for a reconsideration of government’s decision to close down the Philippine Consulate which services more than 20,000 OFWs. The consulate was opened in 2008 in response to the OFWs’ appeals precisely because it was too inconvenient and expensive for them to travel all the way to Madrid for consular assistance,” Ople pointed out.

The former labor undersecretary said the Philippine Consulate in Barcelona also caters to Filipino seafarers whose ships dock at its major ports. This concern was echoed by Filipino community leader Ritzie Ann Taruna who wrote: “Ships, manned mostly by Filipino seafarers who have urgent consular needs, often dock in the international ports of Barcelona and Tarragona.”

Ople pointed out that the limited time of seafarers while the ship is on dock prohibits them from going all the way to Madrid, Spain to visit the Philippine Embassy which is 600 kilometers away from Barcelona.

In a resolution, the United Bicolanos of Barcelona also expressed a unified stand against the closure of the Philippine Consulate General. Victoria Madarieta, president of UBB, noted that the Consulate General started its operations only in March 2008 but has been a big help to communities in Barcelona, Andorra, and the Balearic islands. Even if honorary consuls are to be designated by the Philippine government, the number of Filipino families in these areas would be greatly deprived of consular assistance and services.

Over 4,000 OFWs have signed on to protest the Philippine government’s decision to close down the consulate in Barcelona via Facebook. The “No to Closure of Philippine Consulate in Barcelona. Yes to public service!” was created on Facebook by Filipino journalist Daniel Infante Tuano who writes for the Ang Bagong Filipino, a local paper for OFWs in Spain.

“The general sentiment is that while financial realignments may be called for within the DFA, it shouldn’t be at the expense of Filipinos overseas who are in dire need of consular services. We hope that the DFA will undertake more consultations with community leaders and OFW stakeholders prior to recommending the closure of embassies and consulates for cost-cutting purposes,” the Ople Center said.

Dubai — I thought it would be a breeze to write while on a cruise. After all, the cruise ship itself is named “Costa Favolosa” and our itinerary included port visits to Dubai, Oman, and Abu Dhabi. Seven days at sea – how difficult would it be to open my laptop to write? Very.

A keyboard was the last thing I wanted to see, touch, and tap while on deck, with sea wind as my shawl, and looking yonder where the sky meets water with little boats bobbing up and down like dolphins. The cruise is an annual tradition of the Nacionalista Party led by Senator and Mrs. Manny Villar. Onboard and offshore, the entire cruise was an instantaneous crash course for many of us about life in the Emirates.

There are more than 300 Filipinos working onboard Costa Favolosa. Every single one of them is a walking success story. Maria Plastina, my cabin attendant, hails from Bulacan. She and her husband have been at sea for months, working and saving for the education of their kids. Maria will disembark and return to Manila this March only to board Costa’s newest cruise ship for its maiden voyage in April. This transfer shows how valued Maria’s services are.

I am also proud of Martin, one of the more senior waiters at the ship’s buffet dining area. He bought a lot in Greenwoods, Pasig City and kept saving until he and his wife who also works in Dubai, were able to build their home. His three kids study in an international school. The couple‘s next mission is to put up an Italian restaurant in Manila that Martin himself would manage. Martin told me that his wish is simple – to spare his kids the hard knocks of life that he himself had to go through.

Unfortunately, the global financial crisis has not spared our Costa Favoloso staff. Their salaries, formerly in euros, are now paid out in American dollars representing a steep drop in value. Of course, they signed their contracts out of necessity.

Offshore, two brothers met me at portside in Dubai. Lawrence and Julio Tibayan work in a British-owned company that runs, among several others, a car rental company. Lawrence also works for a mall store that sells branded sunglasses like Oakley. Lawrence was first to work in Dubai before taking in his younger brother. Julio or “Jules” said that the car rental company where he works was tapped to supply cars for the the latest Mission Impossible sequel, “Ghost Protocol”.

I asked Jules if he has a photo of Tom Cruise. No such luck, he said, because the security was quite strict. Still, it was a thrill for our kababayan to see the famous actor up close. “Tom Cruise is short,” he quipped. Both Lawrence and Jules are excellent examples of young OFWs; barely in their thirties, the two have their own places to stay, cars to drive, and jobs to go to.

The two brothers took us around Dubai, with quick stops at Burj Khalifa and Burj Dubai, unorthodox architectural wonders, one of which is said to be the tallest building in the world while the other is a seven-star hotel.

In Oman, we went around Muscat with Labor Attache Ernie Bihis as our guide. While having lunch at a Filipino restaurant aptly named, “Palayok”, the labor attache who has been in the labor department since my father’s time, said that Filipino workers in Oman are highly valued for their work ethic and skills. His number one concern remains the household workers who cross over from Dubai and Abu Dhabi into Oman with tourist visas in search of jobs. Some of them were brought to Muscat by unscrupulous agencies in Abu Dhabi and forced to work for lesser salaries.

Labor Attache Bihis said he already has plans of discussing this grave problem with his counterparts in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as well as with the local agencies in Muscat. Another source of concern is prostitution – something that even he found difficult to believe until a Filipino journalist based in Oman affirmed the information. Once again, this is another dark facet of migration that we do not speak of, but is a growing concern for quite a few of our labor attaches.

Dockside at Abu Dhabi, I met Labor Attache Nas Munder, another old hand at DoLE. Through him, I learned that there are at least 600,000 Filipino workers in the United Arab Emirates, with around 25,000 working as household workers. Yet, that small minority brings to fore the most number of welfare cases due to the highly vulnerable status that is attached to working as a foreign maid in any household. Philippine Ambassador Grace Prinsesa briefed us about embassy’s reintegration project for women through small-scale enterprises.

Going on this cruise through the Emirates enabled this writer to see up close the lives of our seafarers and land-based workers. The places I’ve seen – the mosques and malls, posh hotels and treeless mountains, pale in comparison to the rich harvest of stories that our workers aboard shared with me. To the 300-plus hardworking Filipino crew aboard Costa Favolosa, I dedicate this column. To them, I say, well done and Godspeed. (Send comments to toots.ople@yahoo.com. Follow me on Twitter via www.twitter.com/susanople)

Nanay Edith Langamin forwarded a text she got from Atty. Ira Pozon of the Office of the Vice-President to my mobile phone. It said that the Vice-President would like to meet with her regarding the case of her son, Jonard, who is on Saudi Arabia’s death row. The meeting was to be held Wednesday, January 4 at the Coconut Palace.

“Ma’am Toots, pakisamahan po ako,” Nanay Edith said. The Blas F. Ople Center, a nonprofit organization, which I head, has been helping Nanay Edith follow-up on her son’s case since April 2011. At that time, news reporter Jeff Canoy was doing a documentary on the lives of OFWs. Jeff’’s able researcher, Cherrie Ongtengco, fetched Nanay Edith at her home in Caloocan City for that eventful morning meeting.

It was 10.30 am, Wednesday. We motored from the Ople Center to the spacious Coconut Palace by the bay. Nanay Edith brought along her sister, Rina. At the entrance of the Vice-President’s wooden palace was Atty. Ira Pozon, the person tasked with looking after sensitive OFW cases. His handshake was warm, as was his smile. Nanay Edith’s heart fluttered with anticipation.

We were shown into a room. Already seated were Vice-President Jejomar Binay, his adviser, former Ambassador Jun Lozada, OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon, and Robert Mendoza, the father of Robertson Mendoza, who was killed by Jonard Langamin during an altercation on May 5, 2008. Both the Mendoza and Langamin families were unaware that the meeting would involve both parties. However, Nanay Edith and Ka Bert have met twice before. Ka Bert is a softspoken man with a good heart who had told me once before that he bore no grudge against Jonard.

The entire group moved to the Vice-President’s office where there was a comfortable set of sofas facing each other, and three chairs commanding the front. On those three chairs sat Administrator Dimzon, Ambassador Lozada and with the Vice-President right in the middle. The Mendoza family sat to his left and Nanay Edith, her sister, Rina, DFA’s Ambassador Eric Endaya of the Office of Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) and I were seated opposite them.

For three years, Nanay Edith had been following up her son’s case. Blood money has been set at the equivalent of Php5 million. Edith and her husband sell fishball and sweet corn at the Baliuag Bus Terminal in Caloocan City. Prior to that meeting, the Langamins were able to raise just Php 30,000, from money chipped in by OFW families and a few anonymous donors. During that Wednesday morning, we learned that Jonard was to be executed on March 2012.

Vice-President Jejomar Binay spoke with a soft voice, and every word he uttered was measured with tact and diplomacy especially towards the aggrieved family. He opened the meeting with an appeal to not dwell on the past and instead focus on how both families could move on. He briefed us about the process regarding blood money cases. He assured Robert Mendoza that the government has taken cognizance of his family’s grief and loss. The Vice-President steered the conversation to the plight of Jonard Langamin and the urgent need for a solution prior to March. He asked Ka Bert in the softest and most gentle manner possible, whether he would be able to forgive Jonard and to put such act of forgiveness in writing. After a few quiet heartbeats, Ka Bert, who was looking down at that time, nodded yes.

The intensity of that moment shall stay with me forever. While the Vice-President and Ambassador Endaya of the DFA were discussing procedures, Nanay Edith leaped out of the sofa and crossed over to Ka Bert’s side and knelt before him. Her body shook with tears, emotions etched on her face like a glass sculpture. The room itself was suffused with joy pouring out from Edith’s grateful heart. Three years, that case was unresolved. It took ten minutes on that fateful Wednesday morning, for Jonard Langamin’s life to be spared. God was in the room.

Later that day, I watched the news and saw Bert Mendoza explaining why he decided to formally forgive Jonard. “I asked my son for a sign. I said that if I woke up early on Wednesday with a light feeling, that would be a sign from Robertson that all must be forgiven.” And yes, he did.

What now remains is for the Department of Foreign Affairs to send the letter of forgiveness signed by Robert Mendoza, as the patriarch of the family, to the Philippine Embassy which shall then formallly present this to the Saudi court. What is important is that Jonard’s life has been spared. What is inspiring was how Ka Bert found freedom in forgiveness. I wish the Langamin and Mendoza families the best of luck in their new lives and I thank Vice-President Binay and the DFA for resolving this case. (Send comments to toots.ople@yahoo.com. Follow me on Twitter, www.twitter.com/susanople.)

Over the holidays, I have accumulated vignettes from overseas Filipino workers on vacation from their countries of work. Having been exposed to more stable governance, reliable services, and compatible systems, these Filipino expatriates would lament the lack of common sense in our own red tape-infested, messy and disjointed procedures and policies.

Fernan Santos, a regular chatter at the online chatroom of the daily Bantay OFW radio program over DZXL told me that he was actually called a “criminal” by a Bureau of Immigration agent at our international airport because he had a namesake on the NBI’s list of fugitives. After showing his own NBI clearance, employment contract and other papers proving that he was and had always been an overseas worker, the officer concerned relented but never apologized.

Fernan said that common sense would have long dictated that the Bureau of Immigration and the National Bureau of Investigation which are both under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice have a common database that is regularly revisited by both institutions. In this way, my OFW friend from Saudi added, the humiliation of being held and questioned because of bearing a similar name to a wanted person would be minimized or prevented.

Resistance has replaced common sense in the way the records of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration remain devoid of compatibility. Both offices belong to one department but despite numerous crises abroad affecting thousands of OFWs, they each have their own databases unconnected by any digital bridge or software that would make timely search and verification procedures easier and faster to undertake.

If you look at how the work of different offices and agencies in government often overlap and converge, one is aghast at how simplified procedures are lost in translation and interpretation of various mandates and policies though the constituents may be one and the same.

“Archers”, an OFW based in Singapore, lamented how migrant workers are being charged mandatory membership in PhilHealth as if they were here and able to access all the benefits accruing to local workers. “Our company is obliged to provide us with health insurance so we barely are able to use our PhilHealth membership and yet, the agency wants to even increase our fees.”
Last December 15, the PhilHealth Board issued Circular No. 022 that would raise the contributions of OFW members from the current Php900 to Php1,200 in January then to Php2,400 in July of 2012. This two-step increase was done without prior consultations or notice to the public or the sector concerned. Common sense would have dictated that given President Aquino’s vow of consultations and transparency, the Board would at least have given notice to its members about the planned increase. Such lack of common sense is lamentable given the institution’s role of promoting good health without jeopardizing the otherwise healthy relationship it has with the OFW sector.

During a pre-New Year lunch at DZXL with our OFW friends, I also overheard one of them lamenting the proliferation of courtesy lanes in frontline agencies such as the POEA, DFA Consular Section, and even the Bureau of Immigration (for a certificate to clear one’s name for travel). “Courtesy lanes have become an incentive for laziness, requiring a customer to pay more to for efficient service,” he lamented. Others chimed in, saying that in countries such as Singapore and Saudi Arabia, one goes through the same lanes as others, shelling out predictable and reasonable rates, without hassle.

All these lamentations from our modern-day heroes remind me of a conversation I had with a Filipino diplomat assigned to a predominantly Muslim country. He lamented that while the Philippine Embassy and Filipino community leaders promote the Philippines as a tourist destination, they are unable to answer some basic questions from potential Muslim tourists. For example, does government even have a list of restaurants and hotels across the country that can provide Halal-certified food? We also do not have separate prayer rooms for men and women from Muslim countries in government offices, malls and tourist sites. We are insensitive to the needs of these Muslim tourists and yet we are surrounded by two major Muslim countries in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Perhaps we need a session or two to round up representatives from different sectors to just examine how uncommon common sense has become in the roll-out of various government services and projects. I, for one, would like to volunteer the involvement of the following OFWs and OFW relatives in such discussions: Fernan Santos, Ricky Tolentino, Rico Reyes, Nadene Pechayo, Eric Canlas and his wife, Raquel, Arnel Ragel. They comprise part of our regular chatters group at DZXL where my co-anchor Buddy Oberas and I maintain a two-hour public service program for OFWs.

Governance is much better when little things get solved. It pays to “shrink the change” rather than wait for entire mountains to move themselves. The more common sense fades away in governance, the higher the cost in public trust. (Send comments to toots.ople@yahoo.com. Follow me on Twitter via www.twitter.com/susanople)

Like clothes on fire, we just couldn’t wait to shed 2011 fast enough. That was the year of major quakes, unbelievable tsunamis, fast-rising floods and rainfalls so voluminous that the earth could no longer absorb every drop. That was the year when the peso grew stronger diminishing the buying capacity of every dollar remitted from abroad. That was also the year when President Aquino better defined himself as a leader who means business when running after those who in his mind and heart have long betrayed the public’s trust. 2011 was the year when the Liberal Party as the administration party showed real muscle even when public opinion stood divided as to how it was flexed.

December 2011 was the year when Christmas became a sad and mute witness to entire villages swept away, to families shrunk by the cold, wet, muddy floods that woke them up to a living nightmare. The cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro would never greet December with the same kind of enthusiasm as before. Never, never again would a Christmas tree be but just a tree adorned with lights and ornaments in the flood victims’ eyes. December in 2012 will mark the first death anniversary of over a thousand dead and several more missing in these calamity-stricken areas.

2011 also bore witness to the execution of four Filipino drug mules in China and thousands more trafficked to other parts of the world. Let’s hope that 2012 will not produce more of the same death row cases. Let’s pray that 2012 will be remembered for the creation of a record-breaking number of jobs here at home because of unstoppable foray of investments and tourist arrivals into our shores.

For certain individuals, 2011 was a golden year. Congressman Manny Pacquiao ended the year that was with a new yacht, symbolic of his winning streak and marketing savvy. Beauty queens Venus Raj and Gwendolyn Ruais proved to the world the beauty-and-brains combination that resides in the Filipina. Filipino-American Robin Lim became CNN Hero of the Year for starting birthing clinics in Indonesia. Vice-President and presidential adviser on OFW affairs Jejomar Binay soared high in popularity and trust ratings as did the President himself. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has moved up in the public’s esteem as a senatorial choice in 2013, and as a Cabinet Secretary with guts.

On the overseas employment front, as I write this, several OFW groups are up in arms because of a PhilHealth circular raising the premiums of almost all workers particularly migrant workers who would soon be paying 150% more than the 2011 rate of Php 900. Workers employed in Libya have slowly been returning with the partial lifting of the deployment ban while those in Syria are caught in the whirlwind of political protests and the abrupt raising of alert levels by the Department of Foreign Affairs. 2011 was the year when 41 countries were slated to be banned as labor-receiving countries on the basis of Republic Act no. 10022 had it not been for too many adverse reactions that led the DFA to reconsider its recommendations.

It would be hard to describe everything that happened in 2011. Suffice it to say that it had been a tough year that saw the world economy in shambles, despots removed through regime changes spurred on by social media, the passing of a creative technology genius by the name of Steve Jobs, earthquake after earthquake, flood after flood, and a nuclear incident that spooked the world. And those are just the events that transpired in front of news media.

We look forward to 2012 and pray that it would be the exact opposite of the Mayan prophecy: boom, not doom; new beginnings, and not the end of the world. But if there was anything that 2011 taught us, it was all about resiliency. That what we experienced in the year that was could only make us stronger, fitter, and more prepared for the year that has yet to unfold. Our biggest folly would be to shrug off all the lessons that 2011 wanted to teach us because we are simply too smug for our own good.

On a personal note, the Blas F. Ople Center and Our Times would like to thank all the people who have reacted to our advocacy for OFWs, and to our column; those who bothered to send e-mails and who read our articles on quiet Sundays. Special thanks to the management and editorial staff of Manila Bulletin Group of Publications. I wish also to thank my staff at the Ople Center: Jenny, Jolly, Jeff, Mark, Rayza, Dennis, Loloy and Fort, of course. A special thanks also to those who supported our recent Happy OFW Christmas event: Pag-IBIG Fund, Philam Life, Pagcor, SSS, PhilHealth, DBP, I-Remit, MG Forex Corporation, NYK-Fil Ship Management, Sun West and Century Properties, Inc. To WhiteBoard, you know who you are. Thanks to all and happy New Year everyone!

Today, my mother, Susana, my siblings as well as my daughter and I, will have lunch together at my brother’s condo unit in Quezon City. Each sub-family will bring food to share, and I am quite sure that my Kuya Bulos in Los Angeles, California and our eldest brother, Luis, who is based in Geneva, Switzerland, will call my mom on her mobile phone which will then get passed around like a box of yummy chocolates.

Such happy family reunions that straddle both the virtual and non-digital worlds make the Christmas holiday season really a joy to behold. One can tell from the constant uploading and tagging of photos on Facebook that this season has been both busy and happy, celebrated the Filipino way.

Today, we give thanks for the birth of our redeemer, Jesus Christ, in the most humble of places – a manger strewn with straw. After invoking His name in prayer, we then fit and fill our plates with food that we could afford, and exchange gifts with people closest to our hearts. The more lucky ones would have gifts ready for mass delivery, as a business strategy or as a marketing ploy. Politicians would have separate lists for media friends, party-mates, benefactors, staff, and next-of-kin.

This Christmas, I have my own modest list of special wishes for certain people and institutions:

1. Jonard Langamin and his mother Edith – I pray and hope that the Langamin family would be able to raise the much needed Php 5-million in blood money being required of them so that 27-year old Jonard would not be executed in Saudi Arabia. Jonard deeply regrets his crime, and the aggrieved family, also Filipinos, have long forgiven him for killing their loved one during a heated altercation aboard a ship docked near Saudi Arabia. Nanay Edith and her husband sell fishball and sweet corn for a living. The aggrieved family is also of modest means. Raising Php 5-million to save Jonard from a daily income of P200/day is next to impossible. For those interested in helping out the Langamin family, here is Nanay Edith’s number: +639994307853.I also offer the same prayers for other OFWs on Saudi’s death row like Dondon Lanuza, Joselito Zapanta, and five others.

2. President Benigno Simeon Aquino III – the year ahead will be a difficult one mainly due to an ailing world economy. My special wish for the President is that he acquires the gift of patience because the high road towards positive change will never be easy. I also pray for discernment and wisdom for PNoy and his closest advisers, because though we are their bosses, our voices are often discordant, and public opinion can be a product of herd mentality, rather than in-depth intellectual, spiritual, and emotional reflection. In the end, we need to rely just as much on his administration’s vision for the country that must come with a clear set of priorities on what must be done in the next five years.

3. Members of the Senate – may their togas remind them of the need to study hard for the impeachment trial and be led by convictions rather than party affiliations, or the clarion call of a 2013 re-election. I wish for them the gift of discernment because the trial involves not just one man, but the credibility of an entire institution, and the stability of an entire nation as well. May they do their jobs well.

4. Business leaders and top 100 companies – My Christmas wish for them is good karma based on their respective corporate social responsibility creed and actions; that fate and good fortune shine upon those who know how to give and pay back, from the heart, and serve as community partners and allies of civil society groups and their own employees. My special thanks go to private companies and government institutions like Pag-Ibig, PhilHealth, SSS, and DBP that sponsored our Happy OFW Christmas event last December 16.

5. OFWs and Local Workers – My Christmas wish is for our workers here and abroad to rise above poverty and mediocrity, and discover the path of personal fulfilment by being able to do what they love most. I pray that there are lesser victims of human trafficking and drug trafficking in 2012. I also pray and wish for greater absorption of workers by our local economy, in jobs that are not contractual in nature, so that our middle class can expand and flourish.

Love is the currency of the yuletide season, and it is difficult not to smile despite aching pockets and horrific traffic jams. The air itself is made light with affection, because kindness is an emotion made viral particularly on Christmas Day.

With this, let me rest my keyboard and end this piece by wishing you the most joyous Christmas ever! May your dreams for your family and for yourself come true! Thank you for being a part of “Our Times” this Christmas. (Send comments to toots.ople@yahoo.com. Follow me on Twitter via www.twitter.com/susanople.)

News Release
Blas F. Ople Policy Center
December 20, 2011

Press Release
Blas F. Ople Center
December 20, 2011

NGOs, OFW bloggers oppose Philhealth circular raising premiums of OFW members

Several non-government organizations involved in overseas employment issues banded together to oppose Philhealth Circular No. 022 that would nearly triple the amount of premiums to be paid by overseas Filipino workers by next year.