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| Administrator Caunan speaks at 'Alagang OWWA' project launch |
Administrator Patricia Yvonne “PY” Caunan has
expressed dismay at the Php3 billion budget allocation that the Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration gets from the government each year, especially
amid news of anomalous flood control projects costing taxpayers billions of pesos.
“Ayaw ko na
ngang manood ng TV ngayon, kasi sumasakit ang loob ko,” said Caunan during
a news conference she held at the OFW (Overseas Filipino Workers) Global Center
in Admiralty yesterday. (I don’t even
watch TV anymore now, because it makes me feel
bad).
She said it pained her to hear about so-called “ghost
projects” some of which cost more than the entire annual budget of OWWA.
But while aggrieved over the comparatively small budget
allotted to OWWA, Caunan, who has just marked her 100th day in
office, remains dead-set on improving welfare and health services for OFWs.
As part of this initiative, the first Alagang OWWA Center
will be set up in Metro Manila within the month. The center will provide free
diagnostic and laboratory examination, eye and dental check-ups and HIV
testing, in partnership with the Yakap program of the Department of Health.
Beside this will be a “botika” or pharmacy that will
dispense medicines, again for free, to OFWs in need, especially those who have
returned home and do not have the means to provide for their medical needs.
Caunan said these undertakings all fall within her
mandate to strengthen OWWA so it can better provide for the needs of OFWs.
“With a stronger OWWA we want to empower OFWs, we
want to take care of OFWs. Yan ang
alagang OWWA,” said Caunan.
But to be able to do this, she said she would need
additional help from the government, particularly in allowing OWWA to hire more
staff.
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| Admin Caunan with OWWA Deputy Admin Rosalia Catapang at press con |
Right now, Caunan said OWWA only has 400 plantilla positions,
compared with the newly created Department of Migrant Workers, which has 1,500
posts. The lack of manpower has resulted in the agency’s welfare officers and
staff to work for extended hours, she said.
“The (OWWA) Board has already given approval for us
to request an additional 350 plus plantilla positions, mostly for overseas, Caunan
disclosed.
That request is now before lawmakers, along with a
plea for more money to bolster the agency’s services. After all, she said OFW
remittances account for nearly 10% of the country’s gross domestic product, or
GDP.
Apart from increasing its manpower, OWWA has also
embarked on a review of all its programs, to see which needs to be improved so
services are delivered faster and more efficiently.
Caunan is also keen on digitalization, particularly
in partnering with digital wallets GCash and Pay Maya, so OFWs who need to pay
for fees like membership could easily do so without having to go to any of its
offices.
But to further expand benefits to members like scholarship
for their children and repatriation and burial services, she said it is also
important to get more OFWs to activate their membership.
Caunan said that since the processing of work
contracts for “balik manggagawa” or returning OFWs was delinked from payment
for OWWA membership, the number of those with “active” membership has declined
considerably.
“What does it mean? Seventy percent of the almost
two million deployment each year, or 1.4 million OFWs, do not pay for OWWA
membership,” she said.
She acknowledged that the situation in Hong Kong is
different, as the more than 220,000 Filipino migrant workers who are here remain
active members because they can only have their contracts verified after paying
for OWWA membership – thanks to a supportive labor attaché.
But while OWWA does not want to compel all OFWs to
pay for membership, Caunan said it is to their advantage that they remain
active members so they have better protection while working abroad.
She also gave categorical assurance that the USD25
membership fee that has been in place since OWWA was set up 48 years ago will
remain unchanged, even while benefits may increase following a review.
To make membership more appealing, OWWA has recently
partnered with 27 companies in Hong Kong that agreed to give discounts to OFWs
who could present their E-cards, which also serve as proof of their active
membership.
The benefits range from cash discounts for sending door-to-door
boxes to the Philippines to lower remittance fees, and even lower down payments
when buying a house from two of the country’s biggest developers.
This is just the start of providing more benefits to
members, said Caunan. Come September 15, she said OWWA will launch more
benefits for members in other parts of the world.
To detractors who persist in criticizing OWWA for
its efforts to continuously upgrade its services to OFW members, Caunan said those
who are not interested in the benefits may just ignore them.
“Dagdag benepisyo
lang yan, kung ayaw ninyo ng discount, wag nyong gamitin ang E-card ninyo,”
she said simply. (Those are just additional benefits. If you are not interested
in the discounts, just don’t use your E-cards).
She also deflected criticism she may follow in the profligate spending of her predecessor Arnell Ignacio, who was sacked for purchasing a P2.4 billion piece of land without approval from OWWA's Board of Trustees.
Her plan to set up an Alagang OWWA Center in the capital, and eventually, at various regions in the country, will not involve buying or building any new structure, Caunan emphasized.
"I don't plan to build anything for this. I plan to use existing facilities," she said.
And while she does not see anything wrong with providing unlimited coffee or other refreshments at the OFW lounges or centers, she said she wants OWWA facilities to be more service-oriented, in keeping with her "Alagang OWWA" advocacy.
