HOW BEST TO REINTEGRATE JOBLESS OFWs BACK TO SOCIETY

By Juanito Concepcion

Nearly 450,000 overseas Filipinos (OFs), mostly from the Middle East, have returned home as of February this year after losing their jobs abroad due to the  Covid-19 global pandemic, according to Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) officials. [https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1131387]

They expect the number to increase further — a reasonable expectation as Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on economies around the world, including closure of loss-making companies and layoffs of workers, resulting in unemployment spikes.

But as the number of retrenched or jobless ex-OFWs continues to increase, are they being absorbed and transformed into productive members of society through the government’s OFW reintegration program? Sadly and tragically for OFWs who have gone home after losing their jobs overseas, reintegration assistance by the government appears more imaginary than real.

From all indications, reintegration of retrenched ex-OFWs isn’t being given high priority by relevant government agencies, specifically DOLE and OWWA.

The appalling lack of regard for reintegrating displaced OFWs back into Philippine society are clearly and amply reflected by the following indicators:

1] Lack of publicity in the media and in government announcements the latter’s  concern to reintegrate productively back to Philippine society overseas Filipinos who have lost their jobs overseas in the wake of Covid-19.  

2] Inexplicable lack of any updates on the P2 billion OFW reintegration funding program launched in June 2011 by the government specifically for the purpose of funding livelihood projects to be set up by returning OFWs. Neither one of three government agencies – Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) – has bothered since Covid-19’s outbreak in 2020 to say anything or provide any update on lendings to ex-OFWs who wish to put up livelihood projects. This inexplicable silence raises more questions than answers on the government’s interest to reintegrate back to society OFWs who have lost their jobs overseas.

Ironically and pathetically, this inaction and apparent apathy comes at the worst time amid a very critical and pressing need to generate as many economic activities as possible across the country to address the worsening hunger and poverty across the country as the economy continues to suffer from Covid-19.

What needs to happen for the government’s reintegration program to provide ex OFWs or returning OFWs with genuinely meaningful and helpful assistance? The following critically important things need to be adopted and put in place:

1] Undertake a major holistic revamp of the ongoing P2 billion OFW reintegration program, preferably after getting vital inputs from even a handful of OFWs especially those with finance and entrepreneurship backgrounds. Launched in June 2011, the P2 billion OFW fund reintegration program seems to have vanished into thin air!

2] Put in place mentorship support to enhance the success of aspiring entrepreneurs and this reintegration program. How can mostly first-time entrepreneurs succeed if they don’t have mentors to support and help them. A case in point: how can a baby learn to walk without critical support of parents? Mentors though need to have actual business operations experience and should not be merely academics spewing out theories from books. Undoubtedly, newbie entrepreneurs are very likely to fail unless assisted by ex or current entrepreneurs.  

3] Provide ex-OFWs much easier access to government credit. What’s the point of having the “missing” P2 billion OFW reintegration fund since 2011 if borrowers don’t have access to it? It’s crazy! Unfortunately, lead lender Land Bank doesn’t want to lend to borrowers with start-up livelihood projects or those that will start from scratch. Also, LBP doesn’t want to take risks in its lending. Thus, it requires land title as collateral or security for loan and a profit track record of at least three years  in the borrower’s business. With its stringent requirements, LBP effectively screens out most ex-OFW borrowers.  [This writer should know, I’ve once met with its senior officials and got this unpleasant message loud and clear.]

4] To revive the government’s “missing” reintegration program, why not come up with a more innovative credit scheme? If OWWA’s Balik Pilipinas, Balik Kabuhayan can only afford to give ex-OFWs a one-off grant or free money of only P20,000 to start a livelihood project, so be it. But hard questions should be asked: How can a person start a new business with a start-up capital of only P20,000? Isn’t this laughable and ludicrous?

To address lack of funds for aspiring entrepreneurs among ex-OFWs, why not supplement OWWA’s small grant with “soft loans” from Land Bank? Why not ask – or mandate LBP – to set aside an initial P1 billion to P2 billion to provide “soft loans” of at least P100,000 to P150,000 each ex OFW? If an ex OFW gets OWWA’s  miniscule grant plus an LBP soft loan, the amount can suffice to set up a small livelihood project.

Asking Land Bank for help to bolster the government’s OFW reintegration program should be considered very seriously. The bank anyway is government owned and it has lots of money because it’s extremely profitable. In 2019, it earned a net profit of P18.51 billion, up 20% from P15. 48 billion in 2018. In 2020, Land Bank’s net profit stood at P17.1 billion.

5] Tapping OFWs as funding source for the government’s OFW reintegration program and recovery of the country’s economy should also be looked into seriously. If the government offers high-yielding  retail bonds to overseas Filipinos that pays 5% interest every six months, for instance, I see no reason why this scheme won’t succeed. Far too many OFWs still invest hard-earned savings in pyramid scams simply because they don’t have access to legitimate investment products.  

If tens of thousands of small livelihood projects are set up by ex OFWs in barangays, towns and cities across the country, this can help the country in a very big way in various ways, including OFWs in general , – create economic activities across the country, reduce poverty, reduce demand for “ayuda” or government aid, reduce the allure of going abroad again in search of incomes and reintegrate families once split up when OFWs were at work overseas.

* Email this writer at: jchk94@yahoo.com     

RETURNING OFWs FACE HARDSHIPS WITH REINTEGRATION PROGRAMS MORE LAUGHABLE THAN MEANINGFUL

By Jun Concepcion

Nena de la Cruz (not her real name), 25, a single mother, is finally leaving Kuwait and coming home on August 10 after enduring 12 months of almost non-stop physical and psychological abuses by her female Kuwaiti employer.

“I’m very, very happy to be with my young daughter again, my parents and my siblings in Cotabato. For many months, I had no communication with them after my cellphone was taken away and kept by my employer,” she said.

“It was very hard and painful not being able to talk to your only daughter and mother, being alone all the time and being made to work from as early as 4 to 5am everyday seven days a week. The constant physical abuses by my employer made my situation worse and there were times I thought of committing suicide because of the constant hardships that I had to bear,” she said further.

Thanks to the intervention and intercession by the OFW News Service, run by a Hong Kong-based journalist, with senior officials of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Nena will soon be reunited with her daughter and family.

But while she’s very much elated to go home and end her year-long ordeal in Kuwait, she now worries no end about hunger and loss of income in her hometown in Cotabato. When she leaves Kuwait, she only has the equivalent of P5,000 in her pocket after failing to get her last month’s salary from her employer.

“How can I support my daughter and help financially my parents if I don’t have a job in Cotabato?” she asked.

Like Nena, tens of thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), mostly from the Middle East, are presumably in the same predicament. Government officials have estimated that up to 100,000 jobless OFWs have returned home since Covid=19’s global outbreak in January this year. They estimate that about 100,000 more OFWs or even more are coming home in the coming months as the global pandemic continues to wreak havoc on economies around the world.

How will about 200,000 ex-OFWs, many unemployed and unlikely to find new jobs in the country amid soaring unemployment, support themselves and their family members

Relevant government agencies, including the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the National Reintegration Center for OFWSs (NRCOFWs) have been running for years reintegration programs for returning OFWs.

So, how useful and helpful are their reintegration programs, especially today when the need for them is most pressing than before?

Based on interviews conducted by the OFW News Service with ex-OFWs who sought reintegration assistance, services delivery was generally poor, chaotic, not meaningful and not really responsive to their needs. A case in point is OWWA’s Balik Pilipinas, Balik Kabuhayan reintegration program. One of the primary requirements before one can avail of a P20,000 cash aid as initial working capital for a business, according to an OWWA official, is for the applicant to present a certification that he or she had been a distressed or abused OFW overseas before coming home.

However, OWWA staff overseas don’t seem aware that their counterparts in the Philippines require this document.

Relevant questions relating to this issue are the following”

1] If an ex-OFW fails to produce this certification, does this mean he or she can no longer avail of the Balik Pilipinas cash aid? Does an ex-OFW need to go overseas again just to get this document?

2] Why are OWWA staff overseas apparently unaware of this Balik Pilipinas requirement? In Nena’s case, she was told by OWWA/POLO staff in Kuwait that a certification of being a distressed OFW is required by the Balik Pilipinas program. Without this certification, Nena looks unlikely to avail of the Balik Pilipinas cash aid.

Timely availment of this cash aid in times of greatest need is unlikely, especially amid the ongoing pandemic and lockdowns by different local government units. In 2018, an ex-OFW from Hong Kong and who hails from Tarlac took about six months to get the Balik Pilipinas cash aid.

The Balik Pilipinas program aims to help returning OFWs put up small businesses so they need not go overseas again for employment and gainful income. But can a cash aid of P20,000 as initial working capital really go far enough to set up a small business, operate it and hopefully make it profitable eventually? With prices of nearly everything across the Philippines constantly rising, It is extremely difficult to expect for a start-up business or livelihood project to be set up with an initial capital of only P20,000. Even a small sari-sari store is likely to cost over P20,000 to set up.

What can be done for mostly first-time entrepreneurs among returning OFWs to get hold of a bigger start-up capital without all the funds coming from OWWA? [I will tackle and explain details of this vital issue in my next blog or if you can subscribe to my TouTube videos at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORchvs0AROU%5D

MENTORING is one very very vital and critical element to raise the chance of success of first-time entrepreneurs among returning OFWs. A baby can never, never learn how to walk unless guided and assisted by an adult, usually its parents. While provides a whole-day livelihood seminar to returning OFWs who aspire to become entrepreneurs, this single-day session is most unlikely to turn ex-OFWs into overnight entrepreneurs. Running one’s own business is far, far more complicated and challenging than an OFW’s daily routine overseas of cleaning house or doing menial work in a construction site in the Middle East.

Just like a toddler who’s just learning how to walk, a first-time entrepreneur need to be guided and supervised closely by a mentor with actual experience and track record in running a business. Since most OWWA staff, charged with running the Balik Pilipinas program have no actual experience running a business, the agency can simply partner with NGOs or private companies and other institutions which can provide volunteers willing to teach aspiring entrepreneurs to become businessmen eventually.

Most toddlers can’t learn how to talk by themselves — without an adult’s assistance. This same principle applies to returning OFWs who wish to set up and run their own businesses.

Unless this critically important mentoring issue is addressed and resolved effectively, the casualty rate among first-time entrepreneurs will likely to be very very high.

For any feedback, please write to jchk94@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KUWAIT: FILIPINO WOMEN TREATED AS SLAVES, ANIMALS

Kuwait Skyline with Color Buildings and Blue Sky. Vector Illustration. Business Travel and Tourism Concept with Modern Architecture. Image for Presentation Banner Placard and Web.

Very serious questions should be raised on whether or not the Philippine government should allow the country’s women to continue coming to this Middle Eastern country for employment mostly as domestic helpers.

Information gathered by the OFW News Service (ONS) from AN information source at a POLO-run shelter in that country indicate rampant abuses of Filipino women who work there as domestic helpers.

Nena (not her real name) endured daily physical abuses from her female Kuwaiti employer for one year before arriving recently at the shelter. Treated worse than a slave or an animal, she worked almost non-stop daily from as early as 5am until midnight 7 days a week, 30 days a month, 365 days a year — without any off day over the past year.

“Every time my female employer saw me, she used her hands to knock my head or slap me on my arms or back. She was very cruel and I could not do anything to stop her from physically abusing me for no reasons at all,” relates Nena.

She added that her employer also confiscated her mobile phones, passport and all her documents, thereby cutting off her communications with her family members in the Philippines and friends. The Sri Lankan driver of her employers took pity on Nena and allowed her to use his mobile phone from time to time.

“A Filipino woman arrived here the other day with her young child with a Kuwaiti man. She said she could no longer bear the constant beatings of her Kuwaiti husband that’s why she escaped with her young child. There are almost daily arrivals here of OFWs who could no longer bear the hardships and abuses from their employers,” relates Nena.

She claimed being treated as a virtual slave by her female employer, prompting her to press her recruitment agency in Manila to arrange the pre-termination of her employment contract and her repatriation back to the Philippines.

Philippine labor officials in Kuwait are not immediately available for comment.

In January this year, the government imposed a total ban on all deployments to Kuwait following the brutal beatings leading to her death in 2018 of Filipino domestic helper Jeanelyn Villavende allegedly perpetrated by her employers.

But the following month, or in February this year, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello announced the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration’s decision to lift the ban after murder charges were filed against Villavende’s employers in December 2019.

Curiously, there’s been no mention whatsoever if Villavende’s employers have been detained after the filing of murder charges. OFW News Service (ONS) also wonders why no update has been given on the status of the murder charges.

ONS takes a view that with the sore lack of successful prosecution of employers of OFWs who died in the hands of their employers, this has inevitably led to the continuing abuses of Filipino women in that region. The apparent lack of interest of the Philippine goverment to see through the successful prosecution of errant Middle East employers has wittingly or unwittingly fueled the continuing impunity of employers who regard Filipino women as no more than slaves or animals under their employment.

It can safely be argued that if there has been a string of successful prosecutions of heinous crimes committed against Filipino women in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Middle East, then the incidence and frequency of abuses could have been significantly curbed or curtailed — very much unlike what’s happening today.

Nena’s tales of her personal experience with her female employer and similar abuses by other OFWs in that shelter all point to one glaring reality — KUWAIT’S WORK ENVIRONMENT IS VERY HARSH AND FILIPINO WOMEN SHOULD THEREFORE STAY AWAY FROM THIS COUNTRY UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT SECURES ADEQUATE AND EFFECTIVE PROTECTION FOR THEM.

NOTE: For comments or any other feedback, email jchk94@yahoo.com

OFW RETURNEES TO PHILIPPINES: EPIC INCOMPETENCE AND WAY FORWARD

By Jun Concepcion

A public appeal issued today [May 22] by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) — via traditional and social media — for the home addresses of more than 8,000 quarantined overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) inevitably raises more questions than answers. This PCG appeal comes following disturbing reports about returnees alarmingly and inexplicably quarantined in different holding facilities in and around Metro Manila for  up to two months or more.

The PCG,

OFWs who have worked abroad for 6 months or more and forced to return home by Covid-19-induced job loss or health fears are obviously very keen and anxious to go back home to their parents, children and other kin after undergoing the mandatory quarantine right after arriving in Manila.

But what if something goes significantly wrong with the government processing of returning OFWs covered in various OWWA and other announcements in different  government websites and media? Announcements have been made that swab tests on returning OFWs would only take 3 to 5 days and that those who tested negative for Covid-19 could go home soon after.

But a video this week of over 100 seafarers stranded without regular food aid in a shelter in Malate, Manila for about two months and still without any idea when they can go home clearly reflect very serious problems in the processing of OFW returnees. The video that went viral cited a seafarers spokesman, appealing to concerned government agencies for them to undergo the required Covid-19 test and to get clearance to go home.

Quarantined for two months and no end in sight yet for their release? Inexplicably and very alarming, the seafarers’ dilemma is far from isolated amid reports — both in traditional and social media — about many other land- and sea-based OFWs kept in hotels, motels, guest houses, ships docked in Manila Bay and other holding facilities who are similarly situated. Clearly,  the processing of returning OFWs is in a chaotic and messy state.

In the case of the PCG and the more than 8,000 OFWs under its care, the following questions arise and beg answers:

1] Why did the PCG issue the public appeal in the first instance for information on the home addresses of more than 8,000 returnees — if all those returnees are currently under their care and supervision anyway?

2] If these returnees have been under PCG’s “custody” or supervision — scores for about a month or more — why have PCG personnel apparently failed to gather vital information, even just names, home addresses and other contact details?

3] Have PCG personnel, presumably aided by support staff, been sleeping on the job and perhaps spending more time on YouTube and online games — than gathering key information needed prior to returnees’ eventual release?

4] Do PCG personnel and support staff use even the most basic Excel software to gather detainees’ vital information for proper processing later?

5] If PCG personnel and support staff are not up to the task, why not bolster and expand those processing OFW returnees? Surely, not all PCG personnel are out at sea and other sea patrol and related duties all the time.

It doesn’t take rocket science or even Artificial Intelligence to address and resolve the problematic issues that I have outlined above. The following are my unsolicited suggestions or recommendations, aimed at resolving those issues.

1] A relevant agency or agencies, tasked with processing returning OFWs, should immediately create on Facebook or use a CONSTANTLY RELIABLE government website an online system that will enable returning OFWs to register their name, home address, other contact details and expected date of arrival in Manila.

2] This online registration system for returning OFWs should also include different quarantine options for OFWs to choose from and returnees should be asked to specify online their primary two quarantine options.

3] This registration system should be manned constantly and collected information processed regularly — NOT INTERMITTENTLY OR HAPHAZARDLY — by a task force that will manage incoming people traffic. Among the principal tasks of this task force is to function as traffic managers, picking out or tabulating those who prefer to be quarantined in Pasay against those who prefer a Batangas resort or a floating holding facility docked in Manila Bay.

4] Data managers or administrators will then schedule those who will undergo Covid-19 swab tests right after their arrival in Manila and keep proper tab when results are expected. These data keepers should also keep records of those to be released after they test negative.

5] A list of those cleared for release should then be passed on to a separate task force charged with transporting detainees due for release.

6] A separate task force should be set up to take charge of gathering swab tests and farming them out to available test centers inside and outside Metro Manila.  It’s foolhardy and crazy to rely on just the Red Cross in Manila and a few other test centers if there’s a heavy volume of test samples that need to be processed. The single best manner of speeding up processing collected test samples is to send them to as many test centers as possible and to chase after results and provide fast and efficient feedback to data keepers. Relying on just a few test centers can only mean one thing — delays in getting swab test results and prolonged detention in quarantine centers.

This is a plain and simple common sense issue which doesn’t require an IQ level of 100 or 1,000.

— For any feedback, comment or suggestion, this writer may be reached at jchk94@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS: FATAL ERRORS THAT PHILIPPINES SHOULD ADDRESS

 

Source: John Hopkins University, ABC News

By Juanito Concepcion

Has the Philippines done enough and well in the fight against the killer Coronavirus or COVID-19?

Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano claimed on March 25 that the Philippines has done better than hard-hit countries, specifically the United States, Italy and Spain. But while there was sliver of truth in his claim as the rates of deaths and incidence in the Philippines are lower in absolute terms than the three countries that he cited, his boastful claim is inappropriate, premature and even uncalled for. From all indications, COVID-19 in the Philippines remains on an uptrend and has not yet stabilized unlike in select countries, notably South Korea and Singapore.

Instead of trumpeting early gains, Ano and other senior officials should instead focus on resolving glaring weaknesses and loopholes in the government’s fight against COVID-19. The following are major weaknesses which ought to be resolved sooner than later as tackling them effectively will – in my view – help substantially bolster the government’s fight against this lethal pandemic:

1] LACK OF A MORE EFFECTIVE & ENLIGHTENED LEADERSHIP AT THE NATIONAL ALL THE WAY DOWN TO LOCAL OR BARANGAY LEVELS.

Is Ano effective as leader of the DILG, the department charged with overseeing local governments? No! His weak and ineffective leadership is clear as daylight. His major failing is reflected in widespread denunciation of numerous instances of incompetence, abuses and corruption among barangays in Metro Manila and different parts of Luzon, including extortion of money for checkpoints passes, erection of unauthorized checkpoints, selective and discriminatory distribution of food packs, harassments of Metro Manila-bound food vehicles, etcetera, etcetera ad nauseam. By and large, barangays have been described as dysfunctional, ineffective and abusive, raising serious questions on whether they are better kept off the streets as they seem to aggravate mayhem than help ensure order in local communities.

Ano has also failed miserably after over two weeks of shutting down Luzon to issue detailed and clear-cut guidelines on what needs to be done at local government levels. As a result, complaints against failings and abuses of barangays are numerous. Had he issued stern warnings that flagrant abuses won’t be tolerated and would be dealt with severely, the volume of complaints is unlikely to be as rampant and serious as what’s seen and heard today in traditional and social media. Based on numerous media reports, there appears to be more chaos than law and order at local government levels, notably in the messy distribution (or lack of it) of food packs to hungry people and even in extreme and highly despicable instances, frontline medical workers getting beaten up over paranoia that they carry and spread the killer virus.

Is the appointment of Peace Adviser and ex-military official Carlito Galvez Jr as anti-COVID-19 czar a good and effective solution in the fight against this pandemic? Not quite. On the contrary, his choice is even questionable. Consider the following basic issue: Is COVID-19 a military or law and order problem? No. It’s more a public health care issue more than anything else. Because it’s a public health care issue, it therefore requires a seasoned and well-respected medical professional, not a politician or a person even with sterling military credentials Though he’s a political outsider without any clear political backers, Dr Willie Ong can be a very good choice. For years, he has given practical and common-sense advice on ailments of millions, and he is widely recognized and respected for his laudable improved health care advocacy. The 7.4 million votes that he garnered in his failed bid to become senator in the 2016 national elections represented concrete popular mandate likely to become instrumental to get many Pinoys behind the fight against COVID-19. This popular mandate, coupled with his health care expertise, make him a far better choice than any ex-military official, politician or moronic sycophant.

2] FAILURE TO DRAW VITAL AND MEANINGFUL LESSONS FROM COUNTRIES, LIKE SOUTH KOREA, NOW ON THE WAY TO CONTROLLING COVID-19.

What helped Korea control and even curb the spread of COVID-19 after an alarming initial spike? Free mass testing for the pandemic across that country proved a vital key and weapon. How has this move helped Korea? Very, very much as it reports continuing gains in its fight against this killer virus.

University of the Philippines, Philippine General Hospital and other medical experts have cited Korea’s use of mass testing as an essential tool and they’ve been pressing hard for this. They stress mass testing should be the first line of defense and offense against killer COVID-19 – just like what South Korea and Singapore have amply shown.

“How do you fight an enemy that you don’t see? How do you fight in the dark?” are fundamental thought-provoking questions that they ask which clearly demand clear and concise answers. Plain and simple, this involves common sense, right? But sadly and lamentably, Health Secretary Francisco Duque has done little in this very crucial area. As a result, no one knows how many virus carriers are moving about across the country, spreading the virus and even infecting their immediate family members – due to the deplorable and pathetic absence of the most basic defense against this killer virus. Intriguingly, a DOH official — not Duque — has predicted the number of COVID-19 cases to spike to about 70,000 or 75,000 in just a few months. 

But instead of easing the COVID-19 test facilities shortage, Duque even aggravates a problem that’s already alarming. Consider the following: On his own initiative, Marikina city mayor Marcy Teodoro sought government approval for a COVID-19 test center that he set up in his city. But instead of giving his green light, Duque inexplicably responded with bureaucratic mumbo jumbo that Teodoro’s project wasn’t health department compliant, thus ending what could have been a very critical supplement to the currently pitiful fight against COVID-19.

3] FAILURE TO EQUIP FRONTLINE MEDICAL WORKERS WITH SUFFICIENT PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT TO FIGHT EFFECTIVELY COVID-19.

As of March 29, 10 or 12 doctors and nurses have so far died fighting COVID-19. Cited as primary culprit in their deaths was the pitiful and deplorable lack of appropriate PPEs or protective personal equipment to avoid lethal infections from virus carriers.

More casualties are anticipated since donations appear to be the primary source of PPEs at the moment. Is the government addressing this problem effectively? Sure, the government is doing its darnest best, claims Duque. But more often than not, actions speak much louder and clearer than words, especially if certain words are empty and more irritating than convincing.

On March 17, President Rodrigo Duterte unveiled a 27.1 billion peso spending package to enable the economy to withstand and overcome the adverse impact of COVID-19. But even a cursory glance of the different expenditure items clearly shows the government’s priorities. The P14 billion budget for tourism immediately stands out as the sector gets the largest chunk in this economic stimulus package. Why, oh why?

Why spend so much on tourism which is virtually dead at the moment amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis?  Why spend on tourism now, not later, when there are more urgent and pressing needs, like PPEs for medical workers and emergency food aid for the poorest of the poor deprived of incomes and food in locked-down areas? Finance chief Carlos Dominguez’ feeble justification speaks volumes? “Tourism is the worst-affected sector.”

COVID-19 is killing more and more frontline doctors and other support staff. This phenomenon certainly strikes fear among those who deal with people afflicted with this killer virus. Imagine this worst-case scenario: What if many doctors and support staff eventually refuse to deal with COVID-19 cases, won’t this spell disaster to Filipinos in general? Think again, how many — even among the bravest of the brave — will be willing to march towards near certain death?

Unless fatal errors in the fight against COVID-19 are immediately addressed and resolved with much greater urgency and in a more intelligent and holistic manner, more deaths and sufferings are likely to bedevil Pinoys in general.

** For comments and reactions, this writer can be reached via jchk94@yahoo.com

 

MANILA COVID-19 ‘LOCKDOWN’: QUESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

First off, let’s settle the irritating play of words or semantics.  Which term is best to use? “Community quarantine” or lockdown?

Take a quick look at the photo above and think clearly and critically. I think and talk straight, unlike perhaps many. If menacing-looking and rifle-toting soldiers and/or policement are manning checkpoints to keep people in or out, this to me is clearly a forcible lockdown. Not simply an innocuous-sounding or crazy-sounding term like “community quarantine.”

“But it’s for the good of everyone amid the spine-tingling global mystery killer Coronavirus or Covid-19!” . . . . Fine, fine, fine . . .  No argument or quarrel over this. Of course, there are lots of good and merits in a lockdown — like what was done in Wuhan, China, France and other Covid-19-affected as areas around the world.

But this controversial lockdown raises a series of highly-disturbing questions which senior government officials need to address and respond to . . . lest their public service commitment is seriously questioned.

Mind you, my intention for raising the following questions is not to criticize just for the sake of doing so. More importantly, I’d like to draw attention to problematic issues over the Metro Manila lockdown, and hopefully, prompt relevant government authorities to address these problems and come up with appropriate solutions. So here goes my questions:

1] Why were no checks done on hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of people who fled to the provinces ahead of the Metro Manila lockdown which took effect from 8pm tonight, March 15?

2] How many of those who fled Metro Manila ahead of the lockdown were unknown or unwitting carriers of the Coronavirus?

3] If there were unwitting Coronavirus carriers among those who fled to provinces outside Metro Manila, to what extent will they infect their immediate family members, relatives, neighbors and other people in their hometowns?

4] Will we see soon a sudden explosion of Coronavirus infections in different provinces? Is this the next frightening phase of the Coronavirus crisis in the Philippines?

5] Why didn’t the Metro Manila lockdown officials or planners anticipate or foresee the flight to the provinces of unwitting virus carriers?

7] Why didn’t these officials foresee or anticipate the bigger or more serious problems that the abrupt lockdown will create? Aren’t they among the BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST that President Duterte used to brag about and aren’t they paid enough to render the best public services all the time?

8]  If there’s a sudden explosion of Coronavirus infections in the provinces, how can public health workers cope if they lack face masks and other essential equipment and other resources?

9] The P10 billion public health budget cut — why doesn’t the executive branch of the government restore this budget cut to bolster the Covid-19 fight?

10] Why hasn’t the government done anything to help the poor overcome Covid-19-induced-hardships, especially temporary income loss? Why not tap rich government institutions, like Land Bank, to draw up and roll out sooner than later bureaucratic-free, quick-release grants and/or livelihood soft loans? A case in point is this: in 2019 alone — just one year — Land Bank must have made a net profit of about P20 billion. If the government truly and genuinely cares for the poor and the needy, why not direct Land Bank to earmark P1 to P2 billion for modest grants or very soft loans to the poorest of the poor?

11] Lastly, since overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)  are only as good when employed abroad, displaced or laid-off OFWs clearly need financial aid even to meet temporary cash crunches. More to the point, why can’t the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) come up with a practical, quick-release, non-bureaucratic grants or soft loans program far friendlier and far more superior than its excessively bureaucratic Balik Pinas Balik Hanapbuhay scheme?

Why did I merely enumerate questions in this blog instead of discussing the different points that I raised? First, this blog is long enough. And second — which is more to the point: The use of plain and simple common sense or even simple logic will enable anyone or everyone who reads this blog to figure out clearly and easily the most precise and effective answers to these questions.

NOTE: For feedback, you can scribble your comments below this blog or email me at jchk94@yahoo.com

CRITICALLY ILL FILIPINO WOMAN FIGHTS FOR LIFE IN SAUDI ARABIA, SEEKS INTERNATIONAL HELP

As Filipinos across the world, including the remotest spots in Africa, South America and Central Asia, gear up to celebrate the New Year, Analie Candole, 26, a Filipino domestic helper in Dammam, Saudi Arabia wages a lonely and excruciatingly painful battle to stay alive, stricken by a potentially lethal kidney disease.

“My empoyer refused to give me an exit visa to leave Saudi Arabia that’s why I’m stuck here in forced detention by my Saudi agency for five months now. My employer did not pay my salary for five months amounting to  7,800 riyals (105,530 Philippine pesos) and the Saudi counterpart of my recruitment agency in Manila has kept me detained against my wishes  despite serious problems with my kidneys,” Candole said. A single mother of three very young children, she worries no end for her kids and her health, but she’s unable to say when she can leave Saudi Arabia to reunite with her family back home.

She now battles by her lonesome her kidney affliction and struggles to stay alive – without the benefit of medication or any professional medical help. Tragically and sadly, Candole is also unlikely to get any Philippine government help anytime soon – due mainly to a combination of bureaucratic red tape, apathy and ineptness.

“Why are you the one seeking help for Candole and other distressed OFWs in Dammam? Why don’t their kin come to our office and file complaints or why don’t they go to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Saudi Arabia?” an official of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration asked this writer in response to his request for POEA intervention and assistance to seven beleaguered Filipino domestics in Dammam, including Candole.

With bleak prospects of getting Philippine government assistance anytime soon, Candole issued a public appeal to the Saudi Red Crescent or Saudi Red Cross, Saudi authorities, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) under the United Nations and other international bodies for repatriation assistance.

Like Candole, six other Filipino women are being held against their will in Dammam by their Saudi agency after complaining against harsh work conditions, as well as physical, psychological and mental abuses

Their pleas since December 1 for urgent assistance, specifically freedom from forced detention by the Saudi counterpart of their employment agency in Manila, have been largely ignored by the Philippine embassy in Riyadh

“Nearly all requests for assistance from us here in Riyadh are urgent. We will do what we can regarding the case that you referred to us,” an embassy staff said.

Fellow detainees said Candole recently vomitted blood and lost consciousness because of problems with her kidneys. But her captors and tormentors, including Filipino national Annalyn Alforque, did not bother bringing her to hospital or any doctor, according to former detainees who have gone back to the Philippines. Alforque is a Filipino national who works for Al Dana Recruitment Office.

“We were treated worse than prisoners in government-run prisons,” said Joy Napuran, 26, from Misamis Oriental province in the Philippines. She was detained by Al Dana staff from November 25 until December 17. “We were given little food and kept all the time inside a fourth-floor apartment. A small window in the kitchen served as the only way for us to see the sun.”

Napuran said she didn’t know why Al Dana detained her with other Filipino women. But she said most of them complained against harsh work conditions which included almost non-stop manual work without adequate food.

Another detainee said they suspect their Saudi agency is awaiting prospects of finding new employers for them and charging employers a fee of up to 25,000 Saudi riyals (US$6,600) for each one of them.

Under the Kefala (or Kapala) system in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East, transfers of foreign migrant workers are not simply monitored under the scheme’s original mandate. The scheme serves more as a manner to “sell” at hefty fees migrant workers from one employer to another.

OVERSEAS FILIPINOS CAN’T COUNT MUCH ON GOVERNMENT FOR LIVELIHOOD SUPPORT

Every year, an average of about US$30 billion or about 150 trillion Philippine pesos are sent home every year by over 10 million overseas Filipinos (OFs). But despite their massive contribution,  most OFs are deprived access to government credit or financing for use in setting up livelihood projects back home.

While government livelihood financing and reintegration programs are set up, particularly those administered by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), they are mostly for show more than anything else. They screen out most returning OFs or those still at work overseas, making these programs non-inclusive and mainly exclusive to those with ongoing businesses, especially those with a profit track record of at least three years. This is especially so with LBP which operates more like a commercial bank, not a government institution tasked with a mission to assist needy segments of society, including returning OFs or overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and the impoverished agricultural sector which badly needs new participants or farmers, as well as work capital.

This author should know. I dealt with LBP officials at its head and provincial offices and the message remains unchanged — WE DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE A RETURNING OF OR OFW KEEN TO GO INTO AGRIBUSINESS. IF YOU’RE NOT A FARMER, YOU CAN’T GET ANY ALEF LOAN.   THIS IS THE GUIDELINE. PERIOD, GOODBYE.

OH! YOUR BUSINESS IS A START-UP? YOUR BUSINESS HAS NO RECORD OF PROFITS FOR AT LEAST THREE YEARS? SORRY, DON’T BOTHER US!

Since Land Bank is the government’s principal conduit or vehicle for extending out agricultural and agribusiness loans, how will this bank’s non-exclusive and highly restrictive lending policy affect the country’s agricultural sector and overall food production and food security? Most probably, severely, like an intensity-10-like  impact. 

Why so? It won’t take rocket science or Artificial Intelligence to deduce the severity or seriousness of the impact. All it takes is simple common sense. 

Between 2010 and 2017, the number of Filipinos engaged in agriculture plunged by 25 percent to 9.07 million in 2017 from 12.25 million in 2010, the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the country’s premier policy-making body, said in November. Making matters worse for the beleaguered agriculture sector is the Rice Tariffication Law. More and more rice farmers are reportedly abandoning agriculture as they incur losses as a result of the adverse impact of the new law, widely attributed to Senator Cynthia Villa, whose real estate empire allegedly benefits from the conversion of agricultural land for housing.

As farmers abandon agriculture and as more and more agricultural land are lost to housing and other non-agriculture uses, food production across the country is widely expected to go down further. The likely results are predictable and catastrophic. As food production and supply go down while population size continues to rise, demand is likely to outstrip supply more and more. What follows is probably unabated escalation of prices of basic and non-basic food items, thereby inflicting more hardships, especially to the poorest of the poor.

As conditions in the agricultural sector turn from bad to worse, where are Land Bank and its senior officers? Up there in their ivory tower, counting billions of pesos in net income or profits. From January to June 2019, Land Bank reported a net income of P10.58 billion, a 36 percent jump from P7.79 billion during the first half of 2018.

Most of the profits came from loans. What this implies or means is LBP won’t just extend loans to just about anyone or everyone — unless it is almost 110 or 150 percent assured to get back with a profit whatever monies it is lending out.

So what are the chances of returning OFWs or those who have already returned home for good to get loans from LBP for use in setting up livelihood projects? Virtually zero or even negative 50 percent since LBP is operated more as a commercial and profit-driven bank, not a government institution with an enlightened mandate to help the agricultural sector and those keen to pitch in in the country’s economic development.

There were about 10.2 million overseas Filipinos in 2013, according to the  Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), an office under the Office of the President. Even if just a tiny 1 percent of this number decides to go into agriculture upon their return to the country, this would mean 102,000 new farmers or agribusiness entrepreneurs in the countryside. Most likely, 102,000 new farmers or agribusiness entrepreneurs can potentially provide a significant or strong push to the agricultural sector and the country’s food production — if given a chance or assistance by the LBP to go into agribusiness.

This is especially so since many overseas Filipinos have sound education and are capable of easily absorbing knowledge on some of the best business practices abroad and even technical and entrepreneurial know-how which can help the country’s agribusiness sector in meaningful and significant ways.

Unfortunately for overseas Filipinos or OFWs, LBP officers do not seem to take a holistic, enlightened and broad view of Philippine macro economy as they are more engrossed in the bank’s bottomline or to amass more and more profits — even at the expense of its principal mandate to bolster the agricultural sector and other national development goals.

In the meantime, overseas Filipinos have little choice but take with a grain of salt, if not dismiss outright, senior officials who, from time to time, pay tribute — NO, PAY MEANINGLESS AND INSINCERE LIP SERVICE — to overseas Pinoys as modern-day heroes for pumping tens of billions of US dollars into the country’s economy every year. Even if this costs continuing sexual, physical and psychological abuses and other atrocities — even deaths — to Filipino women across the Middle East and in a few other places, like Malaysia.

UP NEXT . . . WHAT LAND BANK CAN DO TO BE MORE RESPONSIVE AND HELPFUL TO OVERSEAS FILIPINOS 

NOTE: This writer can be reached via jchk94@yahoo.com or his YouTube channel — Juanito Concepcion — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TpwmU7sid0

COMMENTARY: BRUTAL DEATHS OF OFWs IN KUWAIT — WHEN WILL THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT ADDRESS EFFECTIVELY THIS ISSUE?

 

On February 14 this year, 38-year-old Teresa Quedding from Guimba, Tarlac arrived in Kuwait to work as a domestic helper — to pursue her dream of bigger earnings and a better future for her family.
> But on July 15 or just five months into her work in Kuwait, her cold body was brought home to Tarlac — apparently brutalized, with a broken neck, bruises in different parts of her body and cigarette burns on her shoulder. Intriguingly, both of her eyes and mouth were wide open as if in great fear before she died.
> Did she die of accident? Or natural causes? Or killed deliberately? No one can say with certainty. Not now, not in the coming weeks or months perhaps.
> While speculating on the real cause of her death is unhealthy, it is inevitable to ask how and why she suffered cigarette burns on her shoulder. It defies reason and logic to assume that Quedding deliberately did this sadistic act to herself. How she broke her neck and suffered bruises in different parts of her body also raises more questions than answers.
> The questionable circumstances of Quedding’s death, together with the execution also in Kuwait of Jacatia Pawa, an OFW, on January 25 this year are just the latest in a trail of horrible physical abuses and questionable deaths of Filipino domestic helpers in that Middle Eastern country.
> Pawa was accused of killing her employer’s daughter in 2007, an accusation that she denied until her execution early this year.
> What is the Philippine government doing in the face of the continuing abuses and deaths of Pinay helpers in Kuwait? Senior Filipino officials made some noises last year about considering imposing a temporary ban on the deployment of Pinay helpers to that country.
> Presumably, this threat of a temporary freeze on deployment will pressure Kuwaiti authorities to take measures to strengthen protection of OFWs at work in that country.
> But does the Philippine government have sufficient political will to carry out this threat? From all indications and from the prolonged silence of relevant officials since the temporary ban plan was spoken of, nothing much has happened. In the apparent absence of political will, it appears that OFWs will simply have to endure whatever treatment they will get from employers in Kuwait. Very sad.
> In the meantime, can the families of Quedding and Pawa get any redress for what they believe were injustices suffered by their kin in Kuwait? Sadly, the wheels of justice in most Middle Eastern countries often favor their own nationals — not migrant workers, including those from the Philippines.
> A temporary ban on deployment of Pinay helpers to Kuwait can certainly have negative repercussions. These may include the Kuwaitis pressuring OFWs now at work in that country to leave and be replaced by migrant workers from other Asian countries. This scenario can be a problem as it was estimated that there were about 180,000 OFWs in Kuwait as of 2012.
> A Kuwaiti reprisal is possible. However, the Alliance of Overseas Filipinos for Change (AOFC) believes that such problem is not insurmountable as there are other countries in the Middle East which can absorb those who might be displaced in Kuwait.
> If the Philippine government truly and sincerely cares for OFWs, it should not merely heap praises on OFWs as the modern heroes of our land and make promises of improved benefits.
> More than praises and promises, the AOFC urges the government to take action when necessary, and the series of tragedies involving OFWs in Kuwait now require political will and concrete action. Without this action, the Philippine government will send out the wrong signal — that it’s fine if one or several OFWs are brutalized as long as many more OFWs are still at work in the Middle East and sending home much-needed earnings to their loved ones and our country’s economy.
> In the end, it’s worthwhile for OFWs to ask this question — Do their government truly care for them? The answer is best measured in terms of concrete action and assistance, not merely in terms of praises and promises.
> OFW LABOR, SOCIAL & LIVELIHOOD PROBLEMS & OTHER ISSUES WILL BE TACKLED BY TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS ON AUGUST 26 & 27 AT THE “GLOBAL FORUM OF OVERSEAS FILIPINOS & LIVELIHOOD & INVESTMENTS EXHIBITION” IN MANILA
> THIS 2-DAY CONFERENCE WILL BE SHOWN LIVE ON THIS FACEBOOK PAGE — ALLIANCE OF OVERSEAS FILIPINOS — AND THIS WEB LINK — WWW.OFWS4CHANGE.COM — FROM 8AM TO 5PM on August 26 & 27
> Please visit this Facebook page — ALLIANCE OF OVERSEAS FILIPINOS — for regular postings about OFWs in Hong Kong and other parts of the world, as well as major developments in the Philippines

> Please visit this web link — http://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio3/programme/pinoy_life — to listen to “Pinoy Life” radio show in Hong Kong which tackles the hottest issues relating to OFWs and the most important developments in the Philippines.

AFTER DAVAO TERROR ATTACK, HOW SHOULD ABU SAYYAF BE DEALT WITH?

Abu Sayyaf leaders Khaddafi Janjalani, 2nd from left in front row, and Radulan Sahiron, 2nd from right in front row with headband, sit with fellow Abu Sayyaf rebels inside their jungle hideout somewhere in the area of Sulu province in the southern Philippines on Sunday July 16, 2000. It was the first time Janjalani allowed a photograph since they fled to Sulu from nearby Basilan island following their kidnapping of more than 50 people most of whom were school children. (AP Photo/STR)

Abu Sayyaf spokesman Muammar Askali has declared that his group was responsible for the terrorist bombing of Davao city night market on September 2 which killed 14 people and injured 67 others.

In response, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the entire country in a “state of lawlessness” — not martial law — while Davao city mayor Sara Duterte sacked the city police chief and offered a P2 million reward for information that will bring culprits to justice.

Aside from putting police and armed forces on full alert across the country, the president also wondered if there is a need to bring in a group of mercenaries to hunt down the pesky Abu Sayyaf members who keep on kidnapping foreigners and Filipinos — and even beheading some captives — for the sole purpose of exacting large sums of money in ransom.

Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol, a close friend of the president, said today that the Abu Sayyaf problem won’t go away and needs to be dealt with “once and for all” because they stage other atrocities like attacking prisons across Mindanao to free captured members.

So, what should the government really do to try and put an end to the banditry and atrocities that the Abu Sayyaf group continues to perpetrate?

There are several things that the government can and should consider to deal more effectively with the Abu Sayyaf:

1] USE MORE GUERRILLA THAN CONVENTIONAL WARFARE.  Abu Sayyaf members always use terrorist tactics so pouring more soldiers and trying to engage the bandits in conventional warfare are unlikely to work. Hit-and-run tactics are often used by the Abu Sayyaf members. Result? They ambush government forces repeatedly. The government should revamp its strategy and fight the Abu Sayyaf in their own game — guerrilla warfare, not conventional which will hardly work. Large numbers of soldiers won’t catch up with enemies who melt away in the jungles or in the civilian population.

2] SET UP GUERRILLA UNITS COMPRISED MAINLY OF MUSLIMS WHO KNOW LOCAL CULTURES, LANGUAGE AND TERRAIN. Guerrilla units know very well the tactics used by guerrilla adversaries. Mindanaoans, Muslims or non-Muslims, can be set up and trained into Scout Ranger units and take the lead role in hit-and-run attacks against Abu Sayyaf targets. These units can also be used to identify targets and direct regular armed forces strikes against static Abu Sayyaf targets. Because of their knowledge of the local language, culture and terrain, Mindanaoan-led guerrilla units will be a much better alternative to pouring large numbers of soldiers in areas with perceived presence of Abu Sayyaf members. The combination of Mindanaoan-led guerrilla units, supported closely by regular armed forces who are on stand-by for close-in support, should be deployed to strengthen the fight against Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.

3] RECRUIT AND PLANT SPIES IN THE MIDST OF ABU SAYYAF. Planting spies in the ranks of the adversary is easier said than done. But this strategy has always been resorted to even during World War II or earlier. The Israelis are one notable example of doing this. The Israelis can be engaged for consultancy and advisory on how to use guerrilla tactics and planting spies in the ranks of the enemy. Having spies will go a very long way in destroying one Abu Sayyaf after another, while collecting vital information to tr and avert bombing attacks or minimize damage from them. Recruiting spies is never easy. But with unemployment very high in many parts of Mindanao and scores of young people hungry for “action” or “exciting things to do”, recruitment of spies who will be compensated generously for dangerous work is attainable.

4] INTENSIFY INTELLIGENCE GATHERING. Lack of advance information into Abu Sayyaf terrorist strikes and kidnappings is clearly a fatal weakness and shortcoming on the part of the armed forces. As a result of this glaring intelligence failure, police and armed forces can only wait for the next bomb to explode or an ambush. An intelligence network should be set up comprising barangay tanods and captains, and even civilians, and a compensation scheme can be set up to encourage informants to gather useful information that can prevent bombings and ambushes.  Key members of different communities can be given training in intelligence gathering for the protection and well-being of their respective communities. Paying off civilian spies for useful information costs a lot less than repairing damages inflicted by terrorist attacks, aside from lives lost or maimed.

5] STRIKING FEAR IN THE HEART & MINDS OF ABU SAYYAF LEADERS. Identifying leaders of different Abu Sayyaf groups is fairly easy as they speak to the media or address and lead their groups in attacks and other atrocities. Family members of kidnap victims still held by the Abu Sayyaf continue to agonize over the fate of their kin. Family members of victims, foreigners and Filipinos, who had been beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf will never forget what befell their kin. Abu Sayyaf leaders should clearly take responsibility for all the horrific pains and atrocities perpetrated by members. Since leaders are easily identified than ordinary members, different types of pressures on the leaders should therefore be exerted. Leaders have weaknesses and these have to be identified, and these weaknesses should be exploited to undermine and even derail their leadership.  “Pressures” can be exerted on loved ones of Abu Sayyaf leaders, including their parents or wives if they have more than one wife or even children. The kin of Abu Sayyaf leaders are not direct protagonists in the ongoing “dirty war” but they somehow have a moral obligation to dissuade key family members from leading and participating in Abu Sayyaf atrocities.  A teen-aged daughter or son or the key wife or parent or grandparent of an Abu Sayyaf leader can certainly appeal to the sense of humanity of the latter to put a stop to Abu Sayyaf atrocities. Exerting “pressure” on an Abu Sayyaf leader’s most valued kin isn’t necessarily a pretty suggestion. But the nightmares inflicted by the Abu Sayyaf on the kin of victims who were beheaded or who remain captive are a lot more bitter and painful.

Prospects that the Abu Sayyaf may be receiving large sums of money from drug trafficking syndicate leaders further add urgency to the critical and immediate need to eliminate the menace of this bandit group. Huge sums of money collected from kidnappings for ransom are the sole reason why Abu Sayyaf groups continue to operate in various parts of Mindanao, mainly in the Sulu area. Abu Sayyaf members don’t fight for ideology or religion, it’s all about money.

And with drug offenders, lowly pushers and leaders, now being killed in the government’s unrelenting campaign against dangerous drugs, it is not entirely impossible for drug lords to pay huge sums to Abu Sayyaf leaders to stage bombing attacks in a bid to ease attacks on the drug trade. As shown by the indiscriminate kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf bandits, they will kidnap and extort anyone and everyone as long as they earn huge sums in the process.

As Pinol — echoing Duterte’s view — has stated this morning in an interview with radio station DZRH, it is high time to put a stop once and for all to the Abu Sayyaf menace.

And my unsolicited recommendations above can, in my view, help significantly in more effectively eradicating the Abu Sayyaf menace.