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Thursday, August 10, 2006
Government to test sea evacuation of Pinoys in Lebanon
THE government is set to conduct a trial in the coming days of the Beirut to Cyprus sea route in anticipation of future evacuation of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Lebanon using the method.
Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said they are already working out the details and hope to do the test-run within the week.
Conejos said the test-run is in compliance with the recommendation of Vice President Noli de Castro, who chairs Task Force Lebanon.
"While we do not urgently need this at this time, we would like to have a dry-run just in case we have to do this in the future. At least handa na rin tayo,
alam na natin ang gagawin (we are ready, we would already know what to do)," he said.
He said the main method employed at present is the land route from Beirut to Syria, which takes at least three hours to get to the border. He said it is still "the best, the fastest, the most efficient way of evacuation."
Conejos said they simply had to prepare for the sea route in case the roads out of Lebanon are again bombed or closed down and in anticipation of the arrival of more OFWs in relocation centers in Beirut due to increased attacks and fighting between the Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers.
He said there are still 400 OFWs staying at the Our Lady of Miraculous Medal in Beirut and while they are able to transport 200 to 250 OFWs to Syria at a time, a similar number of Filipinos usually arrives at the relocation center.
Conejos said in the sea route they would have to deal with the Israeli Navy, including submitting certain information like certain signs to identify the ship and types of vessels to register and similar documentations, unlike in the present land route where they only had to inform the Israeli Air Force of the route they are taking.
He reiterated that the problem with the sea route from Beirut to Cyprus is that they have to ensure first that the number of OFWs that they would transport by ship could all accommodated by the aircraft that should already be waiting in Manama and ready to fly the OFWs back to Manila or even to another transit point.
He said the OFWs could not stay overnight in Cyprus or they would be asked to return to Beirut.
The sea route takes about nine hours from Beirut to Manama by a regular ship and seven hours by a fastcraft.
It is also extremely costly compared to land travel, which costs about US$1,700 per bus of 40 OFWs. Sea travel from Beirut to Manama, based on conservative estimates, costs about US$200,000 to US$300,000 per passenger.
Conejos said they would most likely hire a vessel within the Mediterranean to ferry the OFWs during the test-run. He said he is not yet sure if they would make use of the offer of the Greek Shipowners Association to shoulder the cost of ferrying out of OFWS from Beirut during the test-run.
At least 39 OFWs arrived Wednesday afternoon while another 336 Filipinos from Lebanon was due by midnight. This would bring the 3,480 the number of OFWs that returned to Manila since the evacuation started.
Conejos said some 250 more OFWs are due Thursday afternoon and another 450 by Friday. He said by Friday they expect the number of returning OFWs from Lebanon to number to 4,180.
Malacañang urged the Senate to attend to other national priorities following the decision of the committee on labor, employment and human resources development to suspend its investigation on the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) funds until the crisis in Lebanon has ended.
President Arroyo, during the groundbreaking of the Pantal Bridge in Dagupan City, said she is happy that the Senate heeded the call of the majority to suspend the investigation.
"After all, it has been certified by the COA (Commission on Audit) that the Owwa funds are intact and readily available. Our OFWs stranded in Lebanon have to be served with our undivided attention until they are all rescued. Meanwhile, other national priorities have to be attended to," she said.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said aside from the evacuation and repatriation of the OFWs, the other national priorities include the passage of the P46.4 billion supplemental budget that Malacañang is asking for. The supplemental budget includes a P500 million calamity fund which in part would be used for the Lebanon efforts.
"We need the funds to provide our team on the ground more elbowroom in ensuring the safe transport and other forms of assistance to our stranded nationals. The evacuation of all our OFWs in Lebanon entails focus and teamwork to get Filipinos to safe ground. Meanwhile, we join the international community in calling for a truce to enable humanitarian assistance to get through," he added.
The Senate, for its part, will definitely approve the P500 million funding for the repatriation of OFWs from Lebanon but it insisted the amount should come from the fund of the Owwa.
Senator Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Senate finance committee, said the Senate has made a consensus to approve the supplemental budget intended to augment the money for evacuation but it should not be sourced from the national treasury.
He criticized Owwa Administrator Marianito Roque for not biting the idea as Roque stressed the P500 million funding should not come from its own fund.
"The administrator has expressed some doubts about the Senate consensus. The administrator should review the Migrant Workers Act of 1995, under Section
15, Owwa funds were already tapped as repatriation fund, P100 million was taken out of Owwa and placed under the repatriation fund. So there is a precedent in so far as this proposed sourcing of fund is concerned," Drilon said in a briefing.
He asked why does the National Government have to allocate funds for the repatriation of OFWs when in fact the Owwa has budget for it.
"Over the years, the Owwa board has in fact appropriated funds for the repatriation of workers, even before or after the Migrant Workers Act funds were appropriated from the Owwa funds for the repatriation of workers, so there is absolutely no basis for the apprehension that this may not be allowed," Drilon said.
"These are public funds and certainly Congress, as the one authorized for the disbursement of public funds, has the authority to allocate certain funds as it has done in the past," he added. "That is the role of Congress, not Owwa. The matter of which funds can be tapped is a primary role of Congress. The power of appropriation belongs to Congress."
Drilon said the Senate will approve the P500 million funding for the repatriation in a week upon receipt of its approval by the House of Representatives.
The Senate prioritizes the approval of the P500 million funding over the P46.4 billion supplemental budget although the Senate finance committee discussed the two supplemental budgets.
During the meeting, only two of the 19 invited Cabinet did not attend. Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. and Roque led government officials who attended the meeting while Labor Secretary Arturo Brion and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon were absent.
"They are present when they ask for a budget but they are a no-show if they are asked to account for their actions," said Senator Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada whose hearings by his committee on labor have been snubbed twice by Andaya, Roque and other Cabinet officials to explain about the Owwa fund.
Roque denied they intentionally refused to attend the Senate hearings saying they are indeed busy with the repatriation of OFWs from Lebanon. He even excused himself for two hours during the committee on finance hearing to attend to the needs for the sea evacuation of OFWs.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the government's failure to provide enough jobs in the country is to be blamed for the sad predicament of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) stranded in war-torn Lebanon.
Fr. Edwin Corros, executive secretary of the CBCP's Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerants (ECMI), said had the government prepared plans and gave adequate employment opportunities for Filipinos in the country, no one would leave their families and work abroad.
"Whether they are highly skilled, skilled or unskilled, still the approach of the government should be to provide jobs for the overseas jobs market is not actually a long-term solution to our economic development. It can be a solution but it should not be considered as a policy," Corros said.
Citing the case of the OFWs in Lebanon, Corros said it is obvious that the government "has never learned from its lessons and only looks at how it could extract money from the workers."
He said the situation in Lebanon where many Filipinos were found to be undocumented while several others were victims of maltreatment and abuses should serve as a warning to the government against deploying Filipino workers abroad. (JMR/REC/MSN/Sunnex)
(August 10, 2006 issue)
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