ILOILO – Seven families sought the repatriation of relatives working in the Middle East. They asked help from the provincial government’s 24/7 inter-agency assistance desk at the provincial capitol yesterday.
Celia Herrera of Zone 1, Barangay Compania Central, Molo, Iloilo City has a 30-year-old daughter working as a house help in Lebanon.
Her daughter’s employer prohibited the latter from leaving the house and constantly scolded her, she said.
“Kabudlay sang iya sitwasyon didto. Gahambal lang na sia nga okay para indi kami magkabalaka,” said Herrera.
Her daughter flew to Lebanon on July 2019 and left behind two children aged two and 11 years old.
The inter-agency assistance desk started operating yesterday and manned by Task Force Bulig Ilonggo which the provincial government created (composed of representatives from relevant government agencies and capitol offices).
Equipped with a telephone and six laptop computers with Wi-Fi connection, the helpdesk is intended to attend to queries and emergency needs of distressed Ilonggo overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families in crisis areas in the Middle East.
Another person who sought help yesterday was Charry Balbes of Barangay Puerto Princesa, Barotac Viejo, Iloilo. He had a wife in Qatar.
According to Balbes, it was only on Dec. 16, 2019 when his wife left for Qatar to work as a house help and already she had changed employers four times.
“Ginamaltrato sia so gabalik sia sa agency kag pangitaan naman bag-o nga employer,” said Balbes. “Siling ‘ya okay sia didto pero indi gid, para indi lang kami guro mag-worry.”
Jack Arroyo of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Region 6 said their office would be working on the concerns of Balbes and Herra.
Based on OWWA records, there were 25 from Western Visayas currently working and residing in Iran and five in Iraq.
“As much as possible we would like to only cover requests for repatriation, updates and communication. All other concerns will be coursed through OWWA and the Department of Foreign Affairs,” said Provincial Administrator Suzette Mamon who heads Task Force Bulig Ilonggo together with the provincial Public Employment Service Office chief Francisco Heler Jr.
The helpdesk was established upon the order of Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. and is the immediate response of the provincial government to the tension in the Middle East following the United States’ assassination of Iran’s top military general who was visiting Iraq on Jan. 3.
The other persons who sought help yesterday were Moray Blanco of Zone 1, Barangay Compania Central, Molo, Iloilo City who had a child in Lebanon; Julieta Mecer of Barangay Malawog, Santa Barbara, Iloilo who had a child in Qatar; Henley Didal of Barangay Bolilao, Mandurriao, Iloilo City who had a child in Lebanon; Julius Gargallano of Pavia, Iloilo who had a sister in Lebanon; and Diwani Onabia of La Paz, Iloilo City who had a sister in Saudi Arabia./PN
