Ople hits OWWA apathy on “tanim-bala” case of OFW

CLARK FREEPORT – Labor and overseas Filipino workers (OFW) advocate Susan Ople has expressed here lament over the “deafening silence” of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) over the case of “tanim-bala” victim Gloria Ortinez whom she noted to be “a long-time OWWA member.”

In Friday’s Balitaan forum of the Capampangan in Media Inc., Ople noted “Nanay Gloria has been dutifully paying her OWWA membership dues from the time she first left the country as an OFW more than 20 years ago.” She called on Labor Sec. Rosalinda Baldoz “to put to task OWWA Administrator Rebecca Calzado for failing to offer even a modicum of assistance to a beleaguered member.”

“I question the lack of support for her by OWWA. The head of OWWA seems lacking of empathy for an innocent OFW handcuffed and charged for a crime she did not commit, right in our homeland,” she said.

Last week, Ortinez, 56, who was leaving for Hong Kong, was allegedly found to have two carbine bullets in her bag at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). She was arrested and detained for two days for illegal possession of ammunition punishable by a jail term of 12 years, as she missed her flight to Hong Kong where she has worked as domestic helper for 26 years.

Ortinez was later released without posting bail after the court found discrepancy in the evidence presented by NAIA security personnel and airport police officers.

Ople chided OWWA for “not even offering to provide free counseling sessions for Ortinez.

“OWWA collects $25 from every OFW leaving the country as membership dues. The membership contribution is good for two years and is subject to renewal every time an OFW renews his or her contract abroad or applies for Overseas Employment Certificate as proof that the worker is an OFW,” she noted.

Ople, who is the only senatorial candidate of the Nationalista Party (NP), said that “at the very least, OWWA could have offered moral support and psycho-therapy sessions, given the trauma that Nanay Gloria experienced.”

“Why the silence? The lack of support is inexcusable,” she added.

Ople also asked the OWWA to get in touch with Ortinez’s employer for 20 years in Hong Kong and explain the OFW’s innocence. “She has had one employer in the past 20 of her 26 years in Hong Kong. She acted as nanny to a child of her employer since the child was born,” she also said.