Shabby treatment of OFWs continue

By Atty. Dodo Dulay

I’ve heard of the “horror stories” that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) go through at our airports but I never thought it was that rampant until a cousin of mine narrated her harrowing experience at the hands of so-called “public servants” at the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) Labor Assistance Center (LAC) in Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

My cousin came home for a few weeks’ vacation from her job at an international aid agency in Europe. Coming from a well-to-do family, she was educated in exclusive schools and frequently traveled abroad. It was during one of those trips to Europe that she was hired as a staff at this global organization—with a work visa to boot. In short, she became an OFW.

Since it was her first time to leave the country with a work visa, she was unfamiliar with the countless rules for OFWs. So as soon as she arrived at the airline check-in counter, the ground staff told her she first needed to get a POEA “exit clearance” or else immigration personnel wouldn’t let her leave. They pointed her towards the LAC near the departure entrance.

Ironically, when she approached one of the LAC staff for “assistance,” she was immediately lectured and reprimanded for not working on her clearance earlier. The staff then rudely ordered her to go to the nearby OWWA office to get a permit. Not used to such boorish and shabby treatment, she shot back, “Kaya nga ako nagtatanong eh!”, and left in a huff.

At the OWWA office, she was told she had to “renew” her membership. This even if she never applied for membership before. Desperate to catch the flight, she paid the P1,200 peso fee – which made the touted P750.00 airport terminal fee exemption useless. Anyway, to cut the long story short, she got her “exit clearance” but ended up missing her flight.

With the present administration’s “tuwid na daan” policy, isn’t it about time POEA Administrator Jennifer Jardin-Manalili and OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon finally put a stop to the maltreatment of our OFWs?