Magsasagawa ng pagdinig sa Biyernes ang Kamara de Representantes kaugnay sa mga naging problema sa pagpapauwi ng mga overseas Filipino worker (OFW) na naapektuhan ng COVID-19 pandemic.
“Consistent with the directive of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano in the case of the social amelioration program, we want to look into the problems plaguing the repatriation of our workers overseas, who have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and find solutions,” ayon kay Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor, chairman ng House Committee on Public Accounts.
Iimbitahan umano sa pagdinig ang mga pinuno ng mga kinauukulang ahensiya ng pamahalaan na may kinalaman sa pagtulong upang mapauwi ang mga OFW.
Ayon kay Defensor, nagtataka ang mga lider ng Kamara kung bakit natagalan ang pagpapauwi sa mga OFW sa kani-kanilang mga pamilya.
“We have thousands of them in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and Europe who have been waiting to return home since the coronavirus outbreak,” saad ng mambabatas.
“What are the agencies’ problems in trying to get them home? Are there no planes that can be chartered to fly them? Are there no government planes or ships that could be used? Are there sufficient repatriation and related funds? These are some of the questions we want answered,” tanong ni Defensor.
Idinagdag ni Defensor na aalamin din nila ang kalagayan ng mga labi ng mga nasawing OFW sa Saudi Arabia, na dapat umanong maiuwi rin sa bansa.
“The agencies cannot even agree on the number of fatalities. The labor department reported that there are about 280, while our embassy in Saudi Arabia claimed in a television report that there are more than 350, 100 of whom have died due to COVID-19,” sabi niya.
Binigyan-pansin din ni Defensor ang kaawa-awang kalagayan ng mga OFWs na naghihintay makauwi sa kanilang mga lalawigan.
“The sight of hundreds sleeping under the NAIA tollway for days before the Army took pity on them and offered them temporary shelter does not speak well of the agencies that should be attending to them,” sabi ng mambabatas.
“Again, we ask, are there no Air Force planes or Navy or Coast Guard vessels that could transport our workers to their provinces in Mindanao and Visayas?” sabi niya.
Kabilang umano sa iimbitahan sa pagdinig ay ang mga opisyal ng Department of Labor and Employment, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, inter-agency task force against COVID-19, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Transportation, at ilang embahador sa Middle East, at kinatawan ng OFWs. --FRJ, GMA News
