Then, on February 28, Migrante International reported that about 60 OFWs arrived at the Libyan-Egyptian border but “no Philippine embassy officials were stationed there.”
Concerned Filipinos like Fr. Allan Arcebuche of the San Francisco Catholic Church-Caritas, who are helping OFWs in their evacuation ever since have been met with hostility by the DFA officials after suggesting that Sirte City be an alternative evacuation site for stranded OFWs. Sirte City has both an airport and a seaport and is accessible to OFWs from Jalo, Jufrah, Zellah Sebha, Misurata, Sletin and Al Khoms compared to Tripoli and Benghazi.
When Arcebuche asked Ricardo Endaya of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs about their evacuation plan for inter-cities and towns in and around the Tripoli area, he related the official arrogantly asked the Catholic priest how long he has been in Libya. Esguerra of Migrante International said the DFA should not do this to concerned OFWs, especially Arcebuche. “He was not paid by the government but was able to help a lot of Filipinos unlike the embassy staff.”
PR Gimmick?
Back home, OFWs who have been repatriated could not help but express their outrage over government agencies that they claim were not able to help them while they were still in Libya.
On February 26, TV Patrol on ABS-CBN reported that 20 OFWs repatriated from Libya walked out of the Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA) bus. “This is just what they gave us,” an OFW said in the report, referring to the red cap embroidered with the acronym OWWA. “We were not even given water and we asked us to wait too long.”
Ed Vellido, chief of the OWWA Advocacy Solid Marketing Division, on the other hand, reportedly “squirmed” when news reporters asked the OFWs, “Was the government able to help?” and to which they loudly replied, “No.”
He said in the ABS-CBN report that it was difficult to evacuate OFWs from Libya, where most were able to escape through their employers’ assistance. He said the situation worsened after Moammar Gaddafi decided to cut off the internet and all forms of communication.
Esguerra of Migrante International said the government should not even dare to attempt to use the OFWs in their PR (public relations) gimmick, citing that most of the Filipinos who were recently repatriated were assisted by either their recruitment agency or their respective employers. “They are just going with the flow,” she said.
She added that the government has already allotted money for the immediate repatriation. “But based on what is going on, I could not see where the money is being spent?” she said. The government has recently released an initial amount of $150,000, $581,000, and $2.326 million from the DFA, DOLE and the OWWA, respectively.
Church groups said that OFWs currently trapped in Libya need more than just prayers. (Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)
Back home
OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon said over a radio interview that Filipinos who were repatriated from Libya would receive stress debriefing and livelihood assistance from their agency. “If they want to go into business, they can let us know what they want to put up, small and medium enterprises,” she said. “We can help them with financial assistance for micro-entrepreneurship programs. If they want to set up a bigger business, we can give them loan assistance.”
But Esguerra said the government should prepare for more than just livelihood assistance in dealing with jobless OFWs who would be flocking the country in the coming days. Migrante International regional coordinator in the Middle East John Monterona added that the government’s reintegration program that “comprises skill trainings and entrepreneur program and providing loans for small businesses will be put to test,” though, offhand, they believe that it is “not enough as a fall back for displaced OFWs.”
Monterona added that “displaced OFWs from Egypt and Libya are facing a very tough situation returning to the Philippines as they are economically unprepared amid the frequent price increases of commodities and services.”
“OFW remittance-driven Philippine economy is incapable of absorbing the increasing labor force that come mainly from the countryside,” Monterona said. Monterona added that the unemployment problem should be blamed on the Philippine government’s “continued adherence to neoliberal economic policies of globalization, as opposed to a well-planned socioeconomic structure.”
The UCCP, for its part, “urges the Aquino government to act decisively and comprehensively on behalf of OFWs in Libya without delay, as waiting might have dire consequences for them. Our deep concern for the welfare of the people of Libya extends to persons of all nationalities who are suffering amid the ongoing commotion in the country.” 
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The Philippine Government has no justifiable reasons not to act quickly and decisively in securing the lives, safety and welfare of stranded overseas Filipino workers. The People Power Revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, and now Libya should have given ample time for planning the efficient and timely evacuation of OFWs out of harms way if possible. The dire situation of stranded Filipino OFWs in Libya and the manner and treatment in which the Philippine government handles the evacuation, repatriation and assistance extended to OFWs abroad and and when they reach home thru whatever means they themselves employed, will be an eye opener and rallying point for Filipinos, both in the Philippines and abroad.
Migrant workers who work hard and suffer exploitation, abuse and neglect are the top dollar contributors to the economy of the Philippines. The more than $13B dollar remittances of OFWs keep the Philippine economy afloat.
Overseas Filipino workers, definitely, have the right to complain, be protected, secured and deserve better treatment from the Philippine government. And, last but not least, to be treated with respect.
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