PNoy appointee is OFWs’ nightmare

By ATTY. DODO DULAY

In the past two columns, we wrote about the agony endured by an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) while securing an “exit clearance” from the Philippine Overseas Employment Authority (POEA). Well, those columns elicited a two-page response from POEA Administrator Hans Cacdac which, however, raises more questions than answers.

Cacdac explained that the process of securing an overseas employment certificate (OEC) for “balik-manggagawa” (BM) or return hires lasts only 15 minutes from evaluation of documents to payment of fees but that their biggest challenge has been the volume of BMs being processed daily, which is around 2,000 to 2,500 BMs on an average working day.

If Cacdac already knows there’s a large volume of OEC applicants, why were there only 7 out of 20 processing windows open? And why didn’t he open more processing windows sooner?

To address the congestion, Cacdac also says they have set up field stations in some malls and he plans to roll out more stations in other malls in the next few months. However, putting up satellite offices without overhauling their outdated processes and procedures will not spare our OFWs the aggravation but will only disperse the misery more widely.

The POEA chief also claims they’re trying their best to clear the BM processing center of unnecessary structures and have no longer renewed the contracts of concessionaries and commercial stalls. If so, why are there still BPI, Globe and other booths inside the BM processing center while most OFWs are forced to stand or sit on the floor for lack of seats and space?

According to Cacdac, the lady handing out application forms upon entry is supposed to make life a little easier for OFWs who may want to get hold of the forms as early as possible. He says that upon receiving the form handed out a few steps after entering POEA premises, the OFW should walk through the building premises where there is an information desk officer to whom our OFW letter-sender could have presented any type of query. But how are OFWs supposed to know there’s an information desk inside the POEA premises when the lady handing out the forms never even bothered to point the way or respond to our OFW letter-sender’s inquiries? We’re told there’s not even a flowchart or pamphlet given out to guide OFWs through the process. So much for “public service.”

Cacdac also wanted to know the identity of our OFW letter-sender supposedly so they could trace their “process cycle time” with regard to her case and “adequately defend themselves,” adding that previous news reports about aggrieved OFWs have identified the complainants. Obviously, the insinuation being that our OFW letter-sender’s story may be fictitious, inaccurate, exaggerated or a freak accident.

Instead of trying to “defend themselves,” Cacdac should line up and go through the OEC process himself. Indeed, it is quite unbelievable that Cacdac isn’t even familiar with their usual “process cycle time” that he needs to verify it in the case of our OFW letter-sender. Perhaps Cacdac has been cooped up in his air-conditioned office too long that he doesn’t know what’s happening in his own backyard. That or he’s just plain incompetent.

Cacdac should also explain why BMs need to fill-up the same lengthy forms every time they apply for an OEC when the POEA is supposed to have their employment records and history on file? And why hasn’t POEA formulated a system or used modern technology like biometrics and smart cards so that OFWs need not “re-validate” their OECs at the airport or be re-interviewed at the immigration counter? Is it because some people are afraid of losing their “raket”?

We’re sure Cacdac knows what’s wrong at POEA since he’s not a “newbie” in the agency. In fact, he’s a Gloria Macapagal Arroyo-appointee who served as POEA Deputy Administrator for more than 4 years until September 2010.

To the credit of President Noynoy, he appointed Cacdac to the top post at POEA despite being a former Arroyo functionary. Soon after his appointment in January this year, Cacdac was interviewed on national TV touting a 7-point agenda which he boasted would streamline the way OECs are issued and cut down on unnecessary steps or procedures while vowing to bring in more personnel, IT equipment and technology to make this happen.

So the question that Malacañang should now ask Cacdac is: Why does getting an “exit clearance” – which Cacdac admits is supposed to be a 15-minute process – still take 9 hours or more?

Apparently, the so-called agenda of Cacdac is all “dakdak”. Nothing’s changed since his POEA stint during the Arroyo administration. So whatever happened to President Noynoy’s promise that he would no longer tolerate an attitude of business-as-usual in government?