OWWA welfare officer designated; OFW advocates present 6 demands

OWWA welfare officer designated; OFW advocates present 6 demands

Migrant groups convened at the Philippine Consulate Office for an Open Community Dialogue on consular services. Kababayan4Change initiative thru Migrante Ontario presented 6-point demands of the various community groups in Toronto.
Photo by LQ

Dialogue with Philippine Consulate

The Philippine Consulate General’s Office in Toronto’s designation of an Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Welfare Officer could soon put an end to a problematic consular service that has been hounding the consulate office for years.

Migrante Ontario, a member organization of Migrante Canada, welcomed the Consulate’s announcement. Various community groups that attended the open community dialogue last Friday, September 16 with Consul General Rosalita Prospero also welcomed the news.

The designation of an OWWA Welfare Officer is one of the six demands that were presented by various community organizations united under Kababayan4Change.

Kababayan4Change is a global platform of overseas Filipinos formed to unite around the Filipino people’s demands, collective concerns and aspirations for genuine change and peace in the Philippines. The 6-point demands taken up and addressed to the Philippine Consulate General and the Office of the President in Malacanang were:

• Opening of Philippine Consulate Office in Toronto during weekends and beyond 4:00 pm on a daily basis (5:30pm)

• Widely promote Assistance to Nationals Service

• Support for the urgent and full audit of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) funds and its immediate release to rightful OFW beneficiaries

• Designation/posting of OWWA Welfare Officer in Toronto

• Review increase of E-Passport and other consular service fees dated in February 2015

• Accessibility and availability of Consulate office – Telephone lines must be available at all times. Better trunk line systems must be established.

“We will surely look into these and we are open for regular dialogue and consultation as these are important for us to improve our services. Your feedback should help us understand fully our role as public servants,” Philippine Consul General Rosalita S. Prospero responded after the demands were read to her.

“This initiative by the community is a concrete expression of “change is coming”, the theme on which President Rodrigo Duterte set his government. Overseas Filipino workers in Canada must see to it that we are part of this change and more importantly, see to it that the change they are referring to are changes that will really address the needs of our communities,” Bayani Edades of Migrante Ontario said.

“We are also supporting the call of Migrante International to scrap the OWWA Omnibus Policy (OPP) which effectively made a $25 fee mandatory per contract, revoking the life time membership of OFWs to OWWA,” Edades added.

During the consultation Migrante Ontario also reiterated its full support towards the ongoing peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Philippine Government (GRP) previously held in Oslo, Norway. The talks aim to end the communist insurgency in the Philippines, so far the longest-running insurgency in the world. The next round of peace talks between the GRP and the NDFP will address the Social and Economic Reforms agenda through its substantive agenda also called Comprehensive Agreements on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) slated early next month.

“Ito na iyong pagkakataon para maihapag ng ating mga kababayan ang mga konkretong mungkahi para matugunan ang usapin ng kahirapan, kawalan ng trabaho, sistematisadong migrasyon sa ilalim ng Labor Export Policy, pati na ang usapin ng pandarambong sa kalikasan. Kailangang pag-usapan ang mga repormang pang-ekonomiko na kinakailangan upang maiangat ang kahirapan ng mas nakararami. Kailangan nating i-engage ang gobyerno hinggil sa konsepto ng isang industriyalisasyong hindi na lamang nakabatay sa pribadong sector . Ngayon na ang panahon upang mapag-usapan ito nang mawakasan natin at maugat natin ang dahilan ng armadong pakikibaka ng ating mga kababayan”, Edades further stated.

Leaders of community organizations including Migrante Ontario; Pinoy in Canada Patriotic Movement (PCPM); GABRIELA Ontario; Anakbayan Toronto; Caregivers Action Center (CAC); Kababayan4Change; Filipino Workers Network (FWN); Unite Here Local 75; Filipino TV; Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), and key individuals and advocates in the Filipino community agreed to have a regular consultation and dialogue with the consulate in Toronto.

The second round of the community consultation is set for January 2017.

(PRESS RELEASE)