Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Vol. V,    No. 6      March 12 - 19, 2005      Quezon City, Philippines

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MIGRANT WATCH

OFW Dependents Seek Higher, More Accessible Scholarships

According to a migrants’ group, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) does not live up to its name because it deprives OFWs of much-needed assistance. The educational benefits of dependents of OFWs remain minuscule and inaccessible due to stringent requirements, among others.

BY RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat

A group of dependents of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will petition for higher and more accessible scholarship grants before the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) on March 17.

Mac Ramirez, general secretary of Migrante Youth, said over the weekend that OFWs and their families do not get the benefits and services they deserve. 

The country’s national income has, for years, been buttressed by dollar remittances of OFWs. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, or Central Bank of the Philippines) revealed that in 2004 alone, OFWs remitted $8.5 billion or about 11 percent of the gross domestic product or local output. IBON Foundation, an independent research think-tank, said that six percent of the Filipino families are largely dependent on remittances from OFWs.

In addition, the government reportedly earns about P17 billion ($314.06 million, based on an exchange rate of P54.13 per U.S. dollar) from taxes paid by OFWs, according to Migrante International. The latter is a worldwide alliance of Filipino migrant groups.

There are around eight million OFWs in 180 counties, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the population. Every day, at least 3,300 Filipinos leave the country to work abroad.

Limited

The OWWA collects a mandatory $25-membership fee from all OFWs and the OWWA fund currently stands at P8 billion ($147.79 million). Ramirez said, however, “What we receive from educational benefits is pitiful.”

OFWs and their dependents are entitled to educational and training benefits as stipulated in the Article VIII Section 5-B of the Omnibus Policy. Grants offered are: Skills for Employment Scholarship Program (SESP) for six-month to one-year courses; Education for Development Scholarship Program (EDSP) for four-year to five-year courses; and Seafarers Upgrading Program.

The OWWA allots P6 million ($110,844.26) each for SESP and EDSP. There are only 399 beneficiaries of SESP and 100 recipients of EDSP.  An SESP recipient for a six-month course receives P7,250 ($133.94) while a beneficiary taking up a one-year course gets P14,500 ($267.87).  EDSP scholars get P10,000 ($184.74) for tuition and P20,000 ($369.48) for allowance.

Low benefits

Ramirez said, “The financial assistance provided for OFW dependents is not enough for them to finish schooling.”

According to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the average tuition in the National Capital Region is pegged at P614.54 ($11.35) per unit.  This means that for a 21-unit load, a student must pay P12,905.34 ($238.41).

The average tuition in the country stands at P347.41 ($6.42) or P7,295.61 ($134.78) for a 21-unit load.  A survey by CHED shows that the average cost of nine items in the miscellaneous fees is P2,297.64 ($42.45).

In 1998, the Philippine Education Sector Study (PESS) revealed that a student in a private school needs an additional P6,900 ($127.47) every month to cover transportation expenses, allowance and other expenditures.

Inaccessible

Ramirez also complained that the OWWA has imposed stringent requirements for applicants.  They must now pass the examinations administered by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), must belong to the top 20 percent of his/her class and must have an average not lower than 85 percent. The age requirement is 21 years old and below. Ramirez said that as a result, only a handful of OFW dependents qualify for the scholarship programs.

In addition, SESP recipients may only enroll at schools accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

Moreover, Ramirez said that the Omnibus Policy no longer provides benefits for returned migrants. Only those with current contracts may avail of the loans and other benefits. The OWWA also does not provide assistance to undocumented and terminated migrant workers.  

Reimbursement

Ramirez said what is more enraging is the fact that scholars who failed to finish their course for whatever reasons are obliged to reimburse in full what he/she received from OWWA.  “How does OWWA expect us to graduate when they provide measly amount for our schooling?” According to him, the drop out rate at the tertiary level is 73 percent.

Ironically, Ramirez said that the funds for these educational benefits come from the OFWs.  “How cruel of this government to deprive us of the fruits of our parents’ labor!”

Ramirez also criticized OWWA’s Tuloy-Aral Program (Continue Schooling Program) for elementary and high school students.  The OWWA aims to send 1,200 kids back to school through $100-donation from well-to-do OFWs. 

“The audacity of the OWWA knows no bounds.  While it claims as its project the Tuloy-Aral Program, it is still the OFWs who will shoulder their alleged charity work,” he said.  Bulatlat

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