OFW repatriation, assistance and their right to vote

I have relatives and friends who live and work in different countries around the world. Many times I communicate with them thru phone, send messages via emails and chat on YM or in facebook. Glad to know that they are safe and are in good health.

Approximately there are about 12.5 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) around the world trying their luck from faraway places, away from their families and love ones. And they have different stories to tell, different reasons to share why they go abroad.

And most of them try their luck going to other countries to find employment, and to financially support their families here in the Philippines. Hard as it may seem they go abroad to earn a living despite the many challenges themselves and their families have to face. The hardest is being away from your family, from your kids especially when they are still in their younger years.

Moreover, OFWs are all over the world plays a significant role not only to their host country as workforce, but also to the Philippine economy with their dollar remittances that sustain and propel the economy. A modern hero as they call them.

On this note the government wants them to participate not only on helping our economy but also by way of exercising their right to vote, thus the government has opened registration centers abroad to enable OFWs to participate and vote during elections as an absentee voting. Additional registration centers have been put in place to accommodate more OFWs to be registered and vote during elections.

In the Iblog8 Summit held May 25 at UP Diliman Quezon City,  James Jimenez, spokeperson of the COMELEC shared that there were 589,830 registered voters in 2010 and 153,323 actually voted at that time. COMELEC estimates there will be 686,798 voters on they year 2013.

Comelec plans to put up registration counters in airports so OFWs can register even before leaving. There will be registration booths in airports as well as at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration office (POEA) where they can enlist as they get their work permits.

The Commission on Elections has announced that it will still be accepting applications for voter registration until October 31, 2012. This will proceed even while the issue of whether the poll body can reuse for next year’s midterm polls the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines they utilized during the 2010 national elections remains pending before the Supreme Court.

James Jimenez in a statement said that applications for correction of entries, change of name, and transfer of registration records will likewise be accepted.

We have to inform and encourage overseas Filipinos regarding Overseas Absentee Voting, so that they can practice their right to vote, to register for the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) and vote for the 2013 elections. Information of these things are important to citizens of the Philippines working abroad.

Assisting and helping OFWs in need

Alfred Salmos is a 52-year old Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia who was seriously wounded while rendering service at his work place. His body was severely scarred after accidentally being electrocuted under a 14,000 volt- breaker while he tries to shut it down, that was 2010. He’s finally home in the Philippines last May 22.

In a press briefing organized by the Blas F. Ople Policy Center (BOPC) last May 24, having Salmos as the guest. Salmos’ repatriation was delayed because of a lack of a final exit clearance from his employer, and a police clearance in connection with his involvement in a car accident a decade ago.

Salmos, a native of Nueva Ecija, has been unemployed since his accident. He was in a coma for a month and is now still recuperating from his injuries, which have left him severely scarred. For the past two years, an Indonesian worker has been looking after him. He could no longer work because of his physical condition. When his video and photo became viral, that help started to pour in, and arrangements to bring him home gained attraction. OFW advocate Susan Ople of the BOPC arranged Alfred’s’ homecoming. She said that outpouring of concern from Filipino Facebook users and social media enthusiasts around the world signify a sea-change in how social media directly impacts on cases of distressed OFWs.

Villar Foundation headed by former Congresswoman Cynthia Villar with Sagip OFW Program availed assistance and help to Alfred. Moreover, Sagip-OFW program gives livelihood assistance program and provide repatriation since 2008. OFW agencies address all  OFW concerns “to bring a concerted effort” in asking the Saudi government to grant Salmos’ exit. Previously, Alfred’s sister was also a beneficiary of the Villar Foundation’s Sagip OFW program when she availed of a free ticket home after running away from her abusive employer in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

We are all be thankful to many who helped bring Alfred back home, those who posted information on social media networks like Facebook regarding Alfred’s condition, the media, NGOs , OFW advocates in Saudi Arabia, the Philippine consulate in Jeddah, DFA and OWWA, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Villar Foundation, the long time partners in the Sagip OFW Program and many others.

Filipinos who have signed up for the government’s mandatory repatriation program are mostly those who have suffered abuses from their employers.