Little Notes

My very first anti-human trafficking case was in January 2006. It revolved around a Filipino domestic worker named Alice. She was from Pampanga. It was Dindo Amparo who was then bureau chief of The Filipino Channel (TFC) who referred her to the Blas F. Ople Center. From one distressed OFW, the number of those seeking our help for repatriation grew, in a matter of days, to 17 OFWs, all women and human trafficking victims. That was how I came to learn about the challenges confronting our women OFWs in Syria.

Fast-forward to today. Unlike in 2006, we now have a Philippine Embassy in Damascus. This was also a result of our lobbying efforts with the Senate and the Department of Foreign Affairs. From 6,000 Filipinos in 2006, we now have an estimated 17,000 women in Syria, 95% of whom are there illegally. Some are already married to Syrian nationals.

It is their safety that we now seek as government forces continue to quell rebellion in some parts of Syria. The DFA has announced an Alert Level 3 for Syria. This means voluntary repatriation for Filipinos in conflict areas with help from the Philippine government. Unfortunately, since more than 90% of Filipinos in Syria are working there as household service workers, rescue missions would not be easy.

Just as in the Lebanon war, some employers left behind their Filipino workers to guard the house while they relocated to safer territories. It would not be far-fetched to think that this could also be happening in Syria. In other cases, the employers took their household service worker along with them when moving to safer places. An augmentation team composed of labor, foreign affairs and even police and military officers has been dispatched by the Office of the Executive Secretary to help the Philippine Embassy secure the safety of Filipinos there. To ensure a successful mission, the complete cooperation and understanding of Syrian employers are essential. Still, what is important is for our compatriots in Syria to stay calm, remain level-headed, and find ways to contact community leaders and/or the Philippine Embassy.

Sadly, the Philippine Embassy does not have a complete database of its constituents in Syria. They should have invested in information-gathering while the alert level was not yet this high. The failure of our foreign posts to keep track of OFWs in their areas of jurisdiction is a perennial problem that crops up during times of emergencies overseas. When will we ever learn?

For those who wish to provide information to the Blas F. Ople Center about the whereabouts and contact details of their loved ones in Syria, please contact us through: +632 8335337; or send an SMS to +639158435498. You can also write to me directly via toots.ople@yahoo.com or at blasoplecenter@gmail.com.

Here is the Philippine Embassy’s # in Syria: +963116132626

The DFA’s 24/7 hotlines are: +632 8344646 and +632 8344580.

As always, let us pray for the safety of our overseas workers in Syria, Libya, and elsewhere in the world.

News Release
Blas F. Ople Policy Center
August 11, 2011

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center, a non-profit organization that assists distressed overseas Filipino workers, lauded Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Carmelita Dimzon for issuing a recall order for a welfare officer based in Jordan based on individual formal complaints lodged by recently repatriated OFWs.

Aside from five earlier complainants, the Ople Center in partnership with the Sagip OFW Program of Senator Manny Villar, assisted three more complainants in executing sworn affidavits citing Welfare Officer Carmelita Mag-uyon for neglect of duty and gross misconduct.

“The stories of 8 repatriated workers were consistent and had a common pattern. They alleged that Welfare Officer Mag-uyon advised them to go back to their abusive employers or pay back the cost of deployment which obviously these women could not afford to do. This goes against the mandate of a welfare officer which is to care for and defend the rights of distressed overseas workers especially those trapped in situations of forced labor trafficking,” Susan Ople, president of the BFO Center, said.

Thea E., one of the three new complainants, said that Mag-uyon sided with her female employer in a meeting to resolve their dispute despite the OFW’s fears for her personal safety after her male employer exposed his private parts to her.

“She (Welfare Officer Mag-uyon) insisted that I go back to work or pay the deployment costs of my employer otherwise I’ll go to prison,” Thea recalled in her affidavit. When she refused, the welfare officer surrendered Thea to the police where she was imprisoned for 11 days. While in prison, Thea was maltreated by members of the Jordanian police and was forced to go back to her employer. Upon her return, she was locked up in a room on the fourth floor of the household.

Thea had to take down the curtains, tie the ends, and use it as a ladder so she could climb down and escape at midnight. She took a cab and headed for the Philippine Embassy at around 1.30 AM. Upon hearing of her plight especially on the hands of the police, the welfare officer treated her more kindly, Thea told the Ople Center.

Another complainant, Wilma S., said she was physically abused by her employers and fed spoiled food and at times, was not allowed to eat at all. This forced her to escape and return to her Jordanian agency. Unfortunately, the agency negotiated with her employers that she would be returned and made to work for one year to pay off the deployment costs. Wilma found a way to escape and seek refuge at OWWA’s Bahay Kalinga in Jordan.

According to the distressed OFW, the welfare officer asked her for $500 as payment for an air ticket to the Philippines. She was also instructed to go to the police station to face charges filed against her by her employers. In the end, the said OWWA officer relented and included Wilma in the list of OFWs whose repatriation costs would be shouldered by her agency.

The Blas F. Ople Center also expressed gratitude to the Office of Senator Manny Villar for providing the 8 complainants with a lawyer. “Having a lawyer to guide them and advise them of their rights under the law emboldened these women to file their complaints. Our next step is to help these women get back on their feet again in partnership with the labor department and OWWA,” Ople, a former labor undersecretary, said.

Here comes the rains again.
Falling on my head like a new memory,
Falling on my head like a new emotion.

Eurythmics couldn’t have described our situation better. The downgrading of the United States from an AAA credit rating to AA+ by Standard & Poors (S&P) has produced rhetoric and results that remind me of the early days of the global financial crisis in 2008. Everyone is being told to remain calm. The effects on our own economy would be minimal. The Philippine economy is strong.

Magdilang anghel sana kayo.

The economic fundamentals of the Philippine economy are undeniably strong – tremendous dollar reserves, recent and unprecedented credit upgrades, an increase in tourism arrivals, and improved tax collections. The government’s anti-corruption drive has not abated. President Aquino enjoys high trust ratings and good relations with legislators. Overseas Filipino workers spread across various continents continue to remit hard-earned dollars to their families.

But wait. The full impact of the US credit downgrading is just slowly unfolding. Hysteria is the world’s biggest enemy. Reminders to stay calm and not to panic are just as important now as it was in 2008. Still, we need to understand what’s afoot. It’s impossible to stay calm when one is caught, and not in a good way, by surprise.

A much stronger peso (say, at 41:1) will lead to job losses in the export market particularly among micro, small and medium enterprises where the marginalized sectors find jobs. A weaker dollar would encourage flooding of imported goods including agricultural products, but not necessarily to a lowering of prices. A weaker dollar results in more savings for government because the conversion results in less foreign debt to service. However, a stronger peso affects OFW households since a lot of OFWs still exchange local currencies abroad to dollars before sending these monies home.

I asked Thelma, a wife of an OFW based in Miami, Florida about the effects of the debt crisis and credit downgrade on remittances. She said that her husband who works as FB manager of a cruise ship had to settle for a wage cut and longer hours at work. The cruise liner was not getting as many clients as before. As a result, her husband would not be able to send the same level of remittances as he did a month or two ago.

Also in the news was the cutting of 100 jobs for Pinoy nurses in New York City. Due to the recession, the Peninsula hospital is well on its way to declaring bankruptcy. Come November (ironically, the month for thanksgiving), more jobs will be shed in the US once spending cuts prevail as contained in the debt ceiling law. The psychological blow that would come once the axe falls on various states and sectors would be enormous. American investments that rely directly or indirectly on federal requirements in areas of defense, humanitarian aid, and support for international NGOs could be curtailed.

And so yes, it is too early to say how the Philippine economy would be affected by the US credit downgrade. But there is much that we must be ready for; and a great deal that we can do to prepare for both the good and the bad consequences ahead.

To dismiss any effects of the downgrade on our economy this early as minimal can bring short-term assurances, but not long-term gain.

Now more than ever, we need to help our OFWs and workers understand the global situation, encourage them to prepare for what’s to come, and drive home the values of self-reliance, savings, and perseverance. All this we need to do while providing them the space, environment and freedom to dream big, be hopeful, and stay productive, amid so much uncertainty.

Home is where you grew up, and where the amazing smell of childhood memories lives on forever. It is where you’d want to eternally rest someday, though hopefully not that soon – with the graves of family and friends just a whisper away.

In my travels abroad, I have met Filipinos who thought and dreamt of home like an ethereal rainbow, after a cold shower of rain. For them, the golden pot lies at its end, when weary bones could finally retire with full financial security. One’s journey to reach that pot has taken quite a few OFWs to places that one gets to read about only in Arabian fairy tales.

Still, the idea of home beckons and that thought is made easier by the prospects of having fallbacks ready once a migrant worker’s journey ends. It is in this light that I welcome the creation of a Php 2-Billion OFW Reintegration Fund by the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration in partnership with the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines. This fund was launched with no less than the full support of President Benigno Simeon Aquino.

Under this program, a former or current OFW can borrow amounts ranging from Php 300,000 to Php 2 million, to put up a business of his or her own. The business loan is payable up to 7 years at an annual interest rate of 7.5%. People in business tell me that these terms are quite good, especially for a start-up enterprise.

What would it take for an OFW to obtain such a loan from OWWA? First, he or she must undergo a business orientation seminar from any of OWWA’s regional offices. This would prepare the applicant in formulating a feasibility study that is an essential step when putting up a business. The applicant only needs to show proof of previous or current OWWA membership.

From seminar mode, the OFW entrepreneur will be referred to the nearest Land Bank or DBP branch that would evaluate all of these applications. Approval would rise and fall depending on how carefully the business proposal was put together, because the Php 2-billion Reintegration Fund also needs to be sustainable.

Recently, the Blas F. Ople Center and the Sagip-OFW Program of Sen. Manny Villar together with the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration’s National Reintegration Center for OFWs with the help of such corporations as Fortune Life, Seaoil and the Passenger Accident Management and Insurance Agency or PAMI launched its first ever OFW Reintegration Fair at the Star Mall along EDSA, Mandaluyong City. Special mention goes to DZXL Tatak RMN and DWIZ for serving as our media partners.

We expected around a hundred participants. Much to our surprise, a line has formed even before the doors of the Mall officially opened. One OFW said that he came all the way from Bataan just to listen to the talks of our resource persons. Our simple program started with an overview of the OWWA Reintegration Fund courtesy of Director Maria Luisa Reyes of the National Reintegration Center for OFWs.

It was followed by a reinvigorating talk by franchising guru and noted businessman Paul Tibig of V. Cargo. Myrna Padilla flew in from Davao City to inspire our OFWs and their families with a searing rendition of her life as a former domestic worker turned entrepreneur. Myrna is a spectacular example of the proverbial rags-to-riches story, as she now runs her own business process outsourcing company.

Former journalist and a friend of all, Peter Sing, gave our OFW friends a snapshot of what it takes to leave the safe cove of employment to foray into the more unpredictable waters of entrepreneurship. His personal advocacy is on savings and investments particularly among OFWs because his mother worked abroad to support her family as well.

Randell Tiongson who is a business columnist and registered financial planner anchored all the preceding discussions with pragmatic tips on financial security. Randell has been lecturing about financial security from Hong Kong to Singapore, and in different corners of the country.

Finally, our OFW Reintegration Fair ended on a high note with the prospective entrepreneurs asking our panelists from the Development Bank of the Philippines, Land Bank of the Philippines and OWWA.

Indeed, there are horizons to be explored beyond just leaving our shores. Windows on entrepreneurship have opened via the Reintegration Fund put together with the economic liberation of our overseas workers in mind.

We all have it in ourselves to define our lives. One cannot and should not be an OFW forever. But as in all things, going into business requires due diligence, perseverance, and the desire to learn endlessly, unceasingly along the way. It is for the adventurous heart and a detail-oriented mind.

My father once said that overseas employment is and should be just a temporary program. In the end, his dream was for foreign capital, technology and our world-class workforce to converge in an industrial explosion within our own geographic boundaries.

Today, we might just see that dream happen, even without the foreign capital, as thousands of OFW families now turn to entrepreneurship as their roadmap to home. (Visit my blog at www.susanople.com. Follow me on Twitter via www.twitter.com/susanople. Add me on Facebook via www.facebook.com/susantootsople. Send your comments to toots.ople@yahoo.com)

A group of women who were recently repatriated from Jordan sought the help of Tatak RMN’s Bantay OFW, a daily morning public service radio show hosted by former Labor Usec Susan “Toots” Ople and senator-to-be Koko Pimentel. They alleged that despite the hardships that they have gone through in Jordan, the welfare officer there failed to show the kind of compassion and behavior expected of her.

Yesterday, through the Blas F. Ople Center and with the help of Atty. Charles Parsia and other lawyers of Senator Manny Villar, five of these women filed individual sworn affidavits against Welfare Officer Carmelita Mag-uyon. The formal complaints were received by Atty. Lyn Perez at the 4th floor of the OWWA Building. Today the same set of affidavits will be received by the Office of the Labor Secretary at the Department of Labor and Employment.

Here are some excerpts from the distressed workers’ affidavits:

From G. Quibedo: “That sometime during the last week of April 2011, in my presence, Welfare Officer Ms. Carmelita Mag-uyon, negotiated with a certain Mr. Ihab, an owner of a recruitment agency, for the latter to shoulder half of my plane fare with Ms. Mag-uyon stating the following terms: “Please help this girl (referring to Ms. Quibedo), and I will give you more girls who is (sic) willing to go back work (sic)”;

From J. Mortel: “While at the center, I sought the aid of Welfare Officer Carmelita Mag-uyon in order for me to return to the Philippines, she instead told me that I cannot go home unless I pay three thousand dollars to my employer representing the cost advanced by my agency from my employer; She further told me that since I ran away from my employer, I cannot return home unless my police records are cleared, to do this, she brought me to the immigration office and left me there; Thereafter I was brought by the immigration officers to the police station where I was confronted by my employer; because I refused to continue to work for my employer the police physically abused me and dragged me to my employer’s vehicle.”

From N. Guilamilil (has a medical condition): “On June 7, 2011, I went to the Philippine Embassy to inform them of my situation, and its employee brought me to POLO Office in Ammam, Jordan, and thereat, I told Ms. Judith Lauz of my situation, and she brought me to the basement because my illness was contagious. I requested Ms. Mag-uyon to undergo another medical examination, instead she shouted at me, “paano ka nga magpa-medical, wala ka ngang passport…”; That before my return to the Philippines on July 26, 2011, I approached Welfare Officer Mag-uyon several times and every time I sought her, she shouted at me, “Ikaw, hindi ka makapaghintay, yung iba nga matagal na dito, ikaw 3 months pa lang”; and …”hindi puwede” when I requested for another medical examination;

From L. Wadia: “During the interview I was given by Welfare Officer Mag-uyon the option to stay in Jordan or to go home to the Philippines. I opted to go home but she countered that I cannot go home unless I have five hundred dollars to pay for my plane fare; Since I cannot pay her the amount, she repeatedly asked me on several occasions whether I already had the money for my fare; but since I do not have any money she was left with no other option but to allow me to leave because the ticket was already paid for by the Department of Foreign Affairs for the repatriation of OFWs;

From R. Aragon: “On June 4, 2011, because of the maltreatment and physical abuse that I have experienced in the hands of my employer I sought refuge at the Filipino Workers’ Resource Center (FWRC) at the Philippine Embassy in Ammam, Jordan; While at the Center, I sought the aid of Welfare Officer Carmelita Mag-uyon who refused to render any assistance but instead told me to return to my employer as she feels that that is what is best under the circumstances; Despite my protestations due to the trauma of the physical injury that I sustained from my employer, Welfare Officer Mag-uyon tried to facilitate my return to my employer to the point of acting as a go-between for my agency and family in order to make me change my mind in my decision to no longer return to my employer; Sometime in June 2011, Welfare Officer Mag-uyon asked me if I have five thousand dollars to pay my employer for the cost of my deployment because I can only go home once I paid said amount.”

On Monday, the Ople Center expects two more OFWs to travel all the way from Nueva Ecija to Manila in order to execute their own sworn affidavits against Welfare Officer Mag-uyon. According to Atty. Lyn Perez of the OWWA Administrator’s Office, these affidavits shall be officially transmitted to Welfare Officer Mag-uyon so that she can also reply to said charges. OWWA has its own complaints committee that would look into both sides of the story after which a recommendation shall be forwarded to OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon for her consideration.

Meanwhile, the Blas F. Ople Center and Tatak RMN’s Bantay OFW as well as the Office of Senator Manny Villar will be carefully monitoring these cases. Hopefully, other aggrieved OFWs from Jordan will find the strength and courage to come out and share their own experiences – good or bad – in relation to services rendered by Welfare Officer Carmelita Mag-uyon. This blog is also open to Ms Mag-uyon’s response, in the spirit of fair play.

For those who wish to share their own experiences about their stay at Bahay Kalinga in Jordan, please write to us via blasoplecenter@hotmail.com or call our hotline: 8335337 and look for Jeffrey or Jenny. To the staff of Sagip OFW and the lawyers of Senator Manny Villar, maraming salamat sa pag-gabay sa ating OFWs; special thanks of course to Larry King and our executive producer Leo Navarro of DZXL’s Bantay OFW.

If you have the power to save a life, would you do it? Or do you set a limit on how much time, effort, and money you are willing to set aside before you even decide to act?

That is the crux of the matter involving the creation of a technical working group to study what the administration’s policy should be when it comes to blood money involving overseas Filipino workers on death row.

The decision of the Office of the President to create a technical working group to study and create guidelines on cases involving blood money stemmed from unusually high amounts being required by aggrieved families. The Department of Foreign Affairs have raised the issue of sustainability in relation to requests for blood money.

But first, a definition of terms.

Qisas is a principle under the Shari’a or Islamic law that makes the actual perpetrator of a crime alone guilty, and alone liable to punishment. The punishment must be the exact equivalent of the crime, i.e. tooth for a tooth, life for a life. [5:45, The Holy Qur'an]

However, in consideration of the priceless value of human life, the Islamic law explicitly recommends the substitution of compensation on another plane — through the so-called “diyyah” or blood money compensation for the victim’s mandatory heirs.

Upon the acceptance of “diyyah”, a letter of forgiveness or “tanazul” is issued by the victim’s mandatory heirs.

Once the “tanazul” is issued, the private aspects of the case iareextinguished, and what is left is the public rights aspect of the case which can be waived by the King or Emir (head of state).

Without a “tanazul”, the King (in Saudi Arabia’s case) will never issue pardon or commute the sentence of the perpetrator.

As an OFW advocate, I believe that the technical working group should lose no time in fulfilling its mandate from the President. Time is of the essence considering that some of these cases involving OFWs on death row have been in the legal pipeline for several years.

The case of Dondon Lanuza for example is already a decade-old. Dondon was convicted of stabbing to death an Arab national. This year, for the very first time, the aggrieved family has signified willingness to consider blood money. The Saudi court had ruled that it would be up to the victim’s son to decide on the private aspect of this case when he reaches legal age (18) which would be sometime in 2015.

However, this rare window of opportunity may soon close unless the Lanuza family is able to resolve the issue of blood money amounting to millions of pesos.

My sincere belief is that the Aquino administration has no other recourse but to help families of OFWs on death row particularly in Saudi Arabia to raise the agreed upon “diyyah”. To discard or downplay previous arrangements because the costs are high and the question of sustainability has been raised, would lead to the diminution in the credibility of our own embassy in Riyadh and the Philippine government as a whole.

One must also note the spirit behind Section 27 of Republic Act No. 8042 otherwise known as the Migrant Workers’ Act of 1995:

“The protection of the Filipino migrant workers and the promotion of their welfare in particular, and the protection of the dignity and fundamental rights and freedom of the Filipino citizen abroad, in general, shall be the highest priority concerns of the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine foreign service posts.”

In governance, there are matters that only the heart can see. In the case of these OFWs, the aggrieved families have already opened their hearts to the call of forgiveness. Calculating the “sustainability” in hearing such calls for rationalizing what is intrinsically emotional; putting boundaries and ceilings on a State’s capability to save lives.

I am not one to condone the crimes of the OFWs involved. They do not come begging with clean hands. But I must argue on the side of forgiveness and a second chance at reforms and restitution.

In the case of OFW Junard Langamin, he was 27 years old when he first stepped on the ship together with another OFW whose life Junard would soon take away. They left as friends but as the days went by and pressures at work continue to build up, the two Filipinos suddenly found themselves fighting below the ship’s deck. A knife was drawn, a life extinguished.

Junard’s mom is a peanut and corn vendor who wakes up at 5 o’clock every morning to push her cart from her home to the Baliuag Bus Terminal in Caloocan City. How can the Langamin family raise the amount of Php 5 million in exchange for Junard’s freedom without government’s help?

I urge the technical working group well in deciding which lives to save, and which to forego. (Follow me on Twitter via www.twitter.com/susanople. Send comments to toots.ople@yahoo.com)

Isang pagbati kay Pangulong Aquino sa kanyang makasaysayang talumpati tungkol sa Wang Wang sa gobyerno.

Katulad ng dati, tiyak na maraming mga diplomats ang napakamot ng ulo, dahil sa paulit-ulit na pagbanggit ng “wang wang” – 20 beses ayon sa isang komentarista sa radyo. What’s that, mate? Is that even a word, that “wang wang”? Sabay kamot ulit sa ulo.

Malinaw na si PNoy ang audience palagi ay ang mga Pinoy, kasi nga tayo ang boss niya.

Straight-shooter si PNoy. Kitam ito sa kanyang mabilis na delivery. Ramdam ito sa bawat salita. Mas gusto ko ang SONA 2 sa SONA 1 dahil pinapakitang komportable na si PNoy sa kanyang kinalalagyan, mas kilala na niya ang sarili bilang taga-pamuno ng bansa. Kung baga, ‘yung romansa ng pagiging isang Aquino ay pumapangalawa na lamang sa personal na katauhan ni Noynoy bilang Pangulo ng bansa. Congratulations sa writing team ni Presidente kasi tinig ng boss nila ang lumabas kahapon. Walang labis, walang kulang.

Sa sustansya naman. Kulang sa detalye tungkol sa mga paghamon sa darating na buwan at taon. Bitin din ang paglarawan sa planong pang-ekonomiya. Mahiwaga rin ang walang pagbanggit man lang sa mga problema ng OFWs sa kabila ng mga patuloy na pagsubok na kinakaharap ng sektor.

Pero hindi naman kasi romantiko si PNoy. Wala talagang lambing sa katawan. Ayos na din naman basta’t ang kakulangan sa salita ay pupunuan sa gawa. Iyan ang kailangan nating manmanan. Reporma sa overseas employment, pagpasa sa Kasambahay bill na kaniya naman binanggit, at ang patuloy na atensyon sa mga dapat gawin para sumigla ang ekonomiya.

In the end, the SONA is just a speech, like all others. This one worked because the message was clear, the writing was concise and cohesive, and the delivery was from the heart.

The Wang Wang speech was all about affirming core values. To the President, such affirmation comes before everything else because it underpins the straight and narrow road to good governance.

Ang talumpati ni PNoy ay hindi masyado tungkol sa kinabukasan kung hindi tungkol sa kasalukuyan. Reincarnation siya ng Good VS Evil. Good ang gumawa ng mabuti at ang magpasalamat sa mga gumagawa ng mabuti. Bad yung nais pa rin kumiling sa mga Wang Wang ng nakalipas, kung saan namamayagpag mga padron, politiko, at pilosopo.

Sayang lang nga at ni hindi nabanggit sa mga dapat pasalamatan sa bandang huli ang ating mga OFWs. Bagkus ay nabanggit pang dapat magpasalamat sa nars na tinalikuran ang pagkakataong kumita ng mas malaking suweldo sa abroad. Pareho naman silang bayani kung tutuusin dahil yung mas mataas na suweldo na iyon ay siyang nagpapaaral sa mga kapatid, at nagpapagamot sa mga magulang.

Kulang nga sa romansa. Di bale. Basta’t hitik naman sa resulta. Diyan tayo kailangan ni PNoy. May pagkakataon na ipipilit niya at ang mga takot magsabi sa kanya na sa mundong ito, ang itim ay itim, ang puti ay puti. Bilang kanyang boss, responsibilidad din natin ituro ang iba pang mga kulay sa mundo. Hindi anak-mahirap si PNoy. Marami siyang napagdaanan bilang anak ng mga bayani. Pero iba ang buhay nila sa buhay ng ordinaryong trabahador.

May “wang wang” din na nagmumula sa mga mapagharing uri – ‘yung ang akala ay alam na nila ang lahat dahil tuwing magsasalita ay kayang yanigin ang kapaligiran. Maski hindi naman lubos na nauunawaan ang lahat. Hindi nila kailangan ang “wang wang” para kumita dahil mayayaman na sila. Pero kailangan nila ng “wang wang” para hindi masapawan, para hindi makaligtaan. Hindi halata ang mga ito dahil yung ingay nila ay pabulong lamang. Ang “wang wang” ng katangahan bunga ng sobrang kayabangan – “hubris” kung tawagin sa Inglis, delikado din ito kung mananaig sa boardroom ng mga taong malapit sa Palasyo.

Kaya’t mahalaga din ang romansa, maski papaano – sa pamumuno ng bansa at sa timbre ng mga talumpati. Romansa para ma-in love tayo sa isang pangarap at magising sa katotohanan na lahat ng pagsubok ay kakayanin basta’t wala lang iwanan at wala ng atrasan.

Ay salamat nga pala, PNoy, dahil halatang pinag-isipan mo ng husto ang iyong talumpati para sa bayan.

I met her years ago when the first Microsoft Tulay facility opened in Davao City. Her name is Myrna Padilla. She worked for 20 years as a domestic worker in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Extreme poverty while growing up forced her to give up formal schooling but never prevented her from learning what she could.

While in Hong Kong, Myrna was a community leader. She was a familiar sight in pro-OFW rallies. One day, her association tapped her to write position papers, lending her a typewriter for use at home. Myrna would only bring out the typewriter when her employers were asleep, sometime past midnight. Takatakatak! The keys of the used typewriter would make such a ruckus that Myrna’s female employer would wake up and search for the source of the noise. It was Myrna, hunched over a typewriter, punching its keys with a passion that only true blue advocates can have.

Tired of the midnight “Takatakataks!”, her madame decided to buy Myrna a laptop with Internet access. Encouraged, the fearless domestic worker decided to use her days-of to enroll in a computer course. Bursting with things to say, Myrna decided to blog. Her blogging routine, however, was often interrupted by the number of bugs or technical glitches in the system. An irate Myrna would dash off a complaint letter -one after another- every time the bugs would appear. One day, the administrator of the website decided enough was enough and offered Myrna a job as a “bug-detector”. That started her off on the path of outsourcing.

Today, Myrna is back home in Davao City. No longer an OFW but always with a heart of an OFW – the former domestic worker now owns and runs a business process outsourcing company known as Mynd Consulting. She develops Facebook and Google Apps, websites, and other Internet-based outsourcing work. She maintains a strong connection as founder and honorary leader of the Mindanao Federation of OFWs in Hong Kong.

Myrna Padilla is one of the resource persons that the Blas F. Ople Center has tapped for its first ever OFW Reintegration Fair on Friday, July 29, from 9 AM to 5 PM at the Activity Center of StarMall Edsa Mandaluyong. This one-day reintegration fair would not be possible without the support of the Sagip-OFW Program of Senator Manny Villar and the National Reintegration Center for OFWs of OWWA.

Our other speakers are: Paul Tibig of V.Cargo and president of the Association of Filipino Franchisers, Inc (AFFI), Peter Sing, owner of Pan-de-Pidro and son of an OFW, Randell Tiongson, a noted financial coach and adviser to OFWs, and Director Vivian Tornea of OWWA-NRCO who will brief the participants about the Php2-billion Reintegration Fund for ex-OFWs and current OFWs. A panel discussion will ensue from 3 PM to 5 PM with representatives from the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines on how interested borrowers can avail of the Reintegration Fund.

To reserve a slot, please call up the Blas F. Ople Center at 833-5337 or 833-9562 and look for Jeffrey or Raiza.

(My Panorama column for today, July 24, 2011. For more info about our seminar on How To Communicate Change through the Media, call the Ople Center at 8335337 or visit www.blasoplecenter.com).

During the Marcos years, when my father was labor minister, the print media dominated the news. Columnists like Ka Doroy Valencia and Joe Guevara were bigger than life.

But even then, my father had already sensed a change in the air. Veteran broadcast journalist Jun “Bote” Bautista recalled that way back when the print media ruled the news, Ka Blas Ople would look for TV journalists and wait for them to arrive before starting his press conference. He had seen the emerging importance of television news even when his own press releases were written with print media in mind.

Today, the power to report the news resides in not just one medium. With our camera-equipped phones and the affordability of Internet services, we are all citizen journalists. Remember Ondoy? Videos and photos were shared, stories swapped, and donations sent and received with lightning speed, thanks to technology. Whenever Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao enters the ring, one gets to know the results instantaneously – via Twitter or SMS. If Ondoy and Pacman’s fights were held decades ago, we would have to wait for the next day’s newspapers to read all about it.

Bad news travels even faster once viral. Good news has a better fighting chance to get around when found on YouTube. There are no real deadlines for Internet-based journalism. A blogger has no editor to fear or to answer to. In contrast, a news outfit has to figure out the headline by 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

You can see how the Internet has influenced the news by watching public affairs and news programs. In ABS-CBN’s Bandila, for example, anchors Karen Davila, Ces Drilon and Julius Babao read viewers’ reactions on Twitter and Facebook from their Mac-powered laptops. Even radio programs on AM and FM stations are using Facebook to draw more listeners.

In one of the Ople Center’s seminars on communications, media expert and radio anchor of DZXL’s Taumbayan Naman, Jake Maderazo, noted that the media could and should no longer ignore the power and influence of the Internet on how news is delivered. He said that even television news would have to compete with YouTube.

Every month, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute in partnership with the Career Executive Service Board, holds a two-day seminar entitled, “Communicating Change Through Media”. Our participants come from different government agencies.

Recently, I asked our seminar participants for a show of hands on who had a Twitter account. A single hand was raised, among a group of eleven public sector staff. In contrast, almost all of them were on Facebook. One other participant pointed out the growing importance of LinkedIn. I wonder how this mini-survey would result had we polled department secretaries and undersecretaries.

For the sad thing is that most government agencies remain in the Jurassic age where the act of faxing press releases is the key pillar of their communications program. Early mishaps in the use of personal Twitter and Facebook accounts by a handful in government have resulted in lines drawn and distances kept between social media and steadfast adherence to everything considered traditional and therefore safe.

“Safe” gets you home but without 100% protection once you’re there. If you are in business or government, ignorance of the Internet is never bliss because digital conversations never cease; keyboards are easily tapped and not always by people with good intentions. Ignoring the Internet as a source of and creator of news is akin to living inside a dark and lonely cave with towering condominiums as your neighbors.

In the field of communications, one is not required to conquer the Internet, only to understand it. News of all kinds gets around faster with the reach of an IPAD or when one opens his or her mobile phone. The velocity by which it travels feeds the hunger of cyber habitants for even more news, faster developments. “Soundbites” must fit 140 characters, the length of a tweet.

Tablet computers have converted quite a few into information guzzlers. We tend to absorb bits and pieces of information floating on cyberspace. We have become generalists, crossing the thin line between information and education several times in a day. Thus, we need to rely on hardnosed professional journalists to verify sources, put together details, and give us the news. Soon, all of us will have nearly the same access to news at birth, but it would be the depth of reporting that matters. Substance and context matter even more in the scheme of things as daily news become even more intrusive.

Truth in journalism will never be outdated regardless of how much the Internet influences the news. As traditional and social media reinforce each other, we as citizens end up benefitting from the interplay of both mediums. The power to choose gives life to democracy at every click of the mouse.

First, a definition of terms.

Qisas is a principle under the Shari’a or Islamic law that makes the actual perpetrator of a crime alone guilty, and alone liable to punishment. The punishment must be the exact equivalent of the crime, i.e. tooth for a tooth, life for a life. [5:45, The Holy Qur'an]

However, in consideration of the priceless value of human life, the Islamic law explicitly recommends the substitution of compensation on another plane — through the so-called “diyyah” or blood money compensation for the victim’s mandatory heirs.

Upon the acceptance of “diyyah”, a letter of forgiveness or “tanazul” is issued by the victim’s mandatory heirs.

Once the “tanazul” is issued, the private aspects of the case is extinguished, and what is left is the public rights aspect of the case which can be waived by the King or Emir (head of state).

Without a “tanazul”, the King (in Saudi Arabia’s case) will never issue pardon or commute the sentence of the perpetrator. To show intent on the part of the victim that compliance with “diyyah” is forthcoming, an initial deposit of SR 100,000 is required.

With that out of the way, let us now proceed to the crux of the problem.

In Saudi Arabia, there are three OFWs on death row that I personally know of who have dire need of “diyyah”. In two of these cases, the amounts involved are staggering. Fully aware of these cases, the Palace through Secretary Edwin Lacierda announced that a technical working group to be led by the Vice-President shall draft the guidelines on payments of blood money for overseas workers convicted of murder or homicide. The TWG shall include officials from DoLE, DOJ, DFA, DBM, and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs.

Going back to the OFWs in most need of help in raising “diyyah”, here is a summary of their cases, as I know it (caveat: there may be new updates that I’m not aware of being not a part of government)

Case A is the most pressing among the three. His case is now with the Supreme Court. This is the most sensitive and urgent of the three cases that I know of. It’s best to keep this particular case out of the public eye because previous adverse news reports have not been helpful at all in appeasement efforts.

Case B is that of an Internet-savvy Filipino who is now the subject of an online fundraising effort. The “diyyah” involved is huge. DFA sources say that the court ruling on his case still stands — it will be up to the son of the victim to decide on the case. Frantic calls to raise the “diyyah” have arisen because after ten years on death row, the victim’s family has surprisingly shown willingness to accept compensation. A knowledgeable source describes this as a “breakthrough”. But that window may soon close unless government helps our compatriot raise the “diyyah”. Will he be beheaded once that window closes? Per the DFA, the answer is no. Perhaps the appropriate answer should be, not yet unless by some strange twist the original court ruling is set aside.

Case C involves a Filipino who, with a single knife wound, stabbed his own compatriot while below the deck. Both are seafarers. The aggrieved parents have signified their intention to accept compensation – a decision that was difficult to make. In this case, the “diyyah” is well within the reach of this administration. The DFA had mentioned to me that no final court ruling has been handed down. This should not be considered as good news. The victim had 5 years to raise the “diyyah” but the family is very poor. His parents are corn vendors in Caloocan City. Their son has been in jail together with death row inmates for nearly 4 years. This means that he has just barely a year to go before the court decides and without a “tanazul”, that decision could prove fatal. The OFW’s mom is a sweet, guileless woman who has been going to the DFA for the past three years in search for answers and solutions. I guess she, too, would have to wait for the committee to issue its guidelines.

These are matters of life and death that require not a committee but a conscience. There will always be people who’d say that these OFWs on death row are there precisely because they committed a crime and have to pay for it. But if you are the State, and you have the power to save a compatriot’s life because the laws of another country allow it, wouldn’t you go the extra mile to do just that?

In conscience, can any leader just wait for heads to literally fall because the compensation being required is simply too high? Does one equate such unique arrangements for compensation with classrooms to be built, conditional cash transfers that can be given out, or capital outlay expenses that could be met? Can the State not spearhead a special fund where known philanthropists, and fellow overseas workers can contribute alongside government’s share?

Isn’t compassion just as important in calculating the true worth of good governance?

I know that these are difficult times and money is quite hard to come by. I also know that these OFWs are not without unbloodied hands. Yet, they could be saved, and be reformed with God’s grace.

If the families of their victims have come to accept and forgive our compatriots, shouldn’t we as well?

I appeal, therefore, to the Palace and to the technical group that it has formed to please meet with the families of the Filipinos on death row in Saudi Arabia. Talk to them. Hold the hands of their mothers and fathers and tell them that a committee has been formed. That the mechanics regarding blood money for OFWs on death row shall be discussed, and recommendations will be made.

Then listen to the ticking of the clock.

Decide soon because death, particularly on the above-mentioned cases, waits for no one.