LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

OFW repatriation – whose responsibility?

Dear Editor:

I would like to thank you for The Philippine Reporter’s issue for April 16-30 which dedicated several important articles related to Filipino Caregivers. Being a caregiver myself, I could empathize with my fellow OFWs on how hard it is to make a living in a strange country battling loneliness & despair in order to be able to provide a better life for our families stuck in a seemingly hopeless Philippines.

Going back to the reason why I wrote your paper is that I was quite bothered by Mila V. Echevarria’s article, “new LCP contract scares Canadian employers away” in which she mentions the Philippine Overseas Labor Office’s (POLO) imposing conditions on the employer-employee contract under the Live-In Caregiver Program (LCP) specifically its 4th condition: “In case of work-related death, the employer will bear the cost of repatriation of remains to the Philippines.”

Like all legitimate OFWs leaving the Philippines, we were required to have our papers processed with the Department of Labor & Employment (DOLE) before we were handed out Overseas Employment Certificates, which serve as the OFW travel exit clearance at the airport and immigration counters. Part of this process was the mandatory payment of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration or OWWA membership fee. Among the benefits of being an OWWA member as outlined on their website is the REPATRIATION PROGRAM which is expounded as “provision of services to facilitate immediate repatriation of distressed OFWs, medically-ill OFWs, human remains, etc. like airport assistance, domestic transport, temporary shelter, etc.” (http://www.owwa.gov.ph/page/programs/)

I would like to know the reason behind POLO’s inclusion of the 4th condition on the LCP contract when as far as repatriation upon death is concerned, it should be covered by the Philippine government through OWWA’s program. Does this new employer responsibility imply a monetary reimbursement to the Philippine government’s would-be efforts in the event a caregiver’s unexpected demise on the job? I think this is plain redundancy considering the fact that legitimate OFW’s paid OWWA for assurance as far as repatriation-upon-death is concerned. Now if this 4th condition takes effect, then OWWA should at least reduce its membership fees for departing OFW’s specifically caregivers bound for Canada since we already have “repatriation benefits” courtesy of our employers.

Speaking of OWWA’s repatriation program in its practical sense, I can’t help but wonder if this has been applied to Jocelyn Dulnuan’s repatriation back home. Just reading news articles on the web has confirmed my suspicion that this repatriation program has never been applied 100%. Why does the Filipino-Canadian Community have to do a fund-raising (to which everyone is grateful for) and the Canadian government has to chip in $5000 for the body of a caregiver if this OWWA (repatriation) program applies to her? News reports indicate that Ms. Dulnuan is not a registered OFW in Canada because she worked first in Hongkong. Nevertheless, it has been established that she entered Hongkong as a legitimate OFW so therefore she is still covered by this OWWA fund regardless of where she worked for the simple reason that she paid for this membership. Therefore at the time of her death, OWWA through their contacts in the Philippine Consulate in Toronto should’ve been at the forefront in retrieving her body from Peel Region to her home in the Philippines which unfortunately was not the case.

Since this contract amendment hasn’t taken into effect yet but with the death of Jocelyn Dulnuan and circumstances surrounding the delay of her repatriation is still fresh in my mind and apparently to the caregivers working in the GTA, I just couldn’t help but wonder how inconvenient it is to die in a foreign country and being being anxious at the same time thinking if the Philippine government will carry out its responsibilities to look after you especially in times of need.

Melchizedek Maquiso
Stouffville, Ontario
Visit my blog @ http://ofwcaregiverintoronto.blogspot.com

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Not applicable

Dear Editor,

This email is regarding the “noise” being created by the additional contract sent out effective immediately by the Philippine labor attache in Toronto.

My opinion is that this added contract would not do anything to protect the caregivers well-being because when I double checked Mr. Luna’s URL link to Service Canada’s E-LMO program – it’s not applicable to live-in caregivers!

Therefore a “crook” employer can still renege on whatever the labor attache is asking him or her to sign but the labor attache cannot do anything about it.

Want proof? Go to my blog at www.AdoboRepublic.net where I posted my findings. The entry is too large (with links to screenshots and URL’s) for your paper to publish.

Noli Maniquis
www.AdoboRepublic.net