OWWA Refusal to Shelter Elderly Overstayer Sparks FB Firestorm
By Vir B. Lumicao
The refusal of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration officers in Hong Kong to house a sick and elderly overstaying worker who had surfaced and surrendered has triggered an online OWWA-bashing from the Filipino community here.
The Dec 6 drama, captured in a voice recording and posted online by the group “OFWs in Hong Kong,” highlighted a serious need for a bigger government shelter for distressed overseas workers here.
The case of 68-year-old Tarcila Alabastro, who was shown on a Facebook post being helped down a stairway, has generated almost 1,100 reactions, 827 shares and 226 comments, mostly chastising OWWA for its alleged insensitivity.
Contacted by The SUN, welfare Officer Judith Santos did not deny refusing shelter to Alabastro. But Santos said this was because OWWA’s three-bedroom Filipino Workers Resource Center in Kennedy Town, with space for just nine persons, already had 14 tenants at the time.
“Ganoon po ang ipinaliwanag namin sa kanya, labing-apat na ang nandoon sa shelter at yung iba ay sa salas na natutulog. Hindi naman namin siya pwedeng pahigain sa sahig dahil malamig,” Santos said.
But this explanation did not sit well with those commenting on the FB post.
“Ang laki ng ibinabayad ng mga OFW every contract…sa napakadaming OFW sa HK na nagbabayad ng $200 every contract, yan lang ang allowed sa shelter nila, 9 to 14 katao lang? Ano ito, OWWA, bigasan ng gobyerno ng Pinas ang mga OFW… para sa akin, ang OWWA ngayon walang silbi,” a commenter calling herself Flower R. Rose said.
OFWs in HK said: “Hindi usapin ang legal o TNT (tago nang tago). Dapat aksyonan ng Konsulado ang sinoman na humingi ng tulong dahil yun ang tungkulin nila, ang pangalagaan ang kapakanan ng lahat ng mga manggagawang Pilipino sa labas ng bansa.”
The government’s sparse accommodation for OFWs in distress is in sharp contract to the luxurious office space currently being rented by the Philippine Overseas Labour Office for nearly $500,000 a month.
Nanay Tarcila, from Cadiz, Negros Occidental, reportedly limped painfully to the OWWA offices at about 4:30 pm on Dec. 6 supported by three fellow OFWs. She had asked for temporary refuge while awaiting the outcome of her case, after surrendering to the Immigration Department.
It was not clear whether she had also asked for financial help, as she was destitute after almost a decade of eking out a living illegally, and needed $2,000 for her bail and $200 for her travel document.
According to Alexise Tiu of OFWs in HK, the elderly woman literally dragged herself into the room of Santos and Welfare Officer Lorna Obedoza in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office on Admiralty Centre Tower 1 to seek help.
The old woman begged the two officers to take her in but was turned down. “Ang problema po niyan, napakadami na pong tao sa shelter namin. Ang bilang po namin ay nasa katorse na po sila eh,” Santos was heard saying on the recording.
“OK lang basta may matulugan, basta may matuluyan,” Nanay Tarcila retorted, insisting she could sleep on the sofa.
“Saan naman kayo patutulugin? Talagang puno na kami,” Santos said.
The welfare officer learned from her colleague Obedoza that one shelter client was leaving but that another distressed worker was already booked for the place to be vacated.
“Meron hong aalis na isa, kaso mauuna ho muna ang nasa likuran nyo, kasi OFW yan,” she said.
Tiu, who helped Nanay Tarcila walk to the OWWA, found Santos’ comment offensive. “Sa ganitong sitwasyon hindi ba siya puwede sa shelter?” Tiu asked. Santos explained the shelter was full.
“Puwede naman ako kahit sa sofa, sanay naman ako kahit nakaupo,” the woman insisted.
Tiu and her colleagues in OFWs in HK then took Nanay Tarcila to the assistance to nationals section of the Consulate where she was issued a one-way travel document.
The group then contacted Cynthia Tellez, general manager of the Mission for Migrant Workers, who was able to arrange a place for Nanay Tarcila at Bethune House in Jordan.
On Dec 9, Bethune House officers accompanied the elderly woman to the Immigration Department to surrender. She was told to post bail of $2,000 and go for a medical check-up on Dec 15, before returning for another interview.