We stand as an
alliance of Filipino Expats and OFWs whose primary advocacy is to promote the
welfare and safeguard the rights of our fellow Filipino workers abroad through
blogs, we would like to call for the President Benigno S. Aquino and the
members of the Philippine Congress to reconsider the proposed cut on the Legal
Assistance Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ budget.
This act is
dangerous to the already deplorable conditions of many OFWs who are
incarcerated in various countries needing legal assistance. The legal complexities of those who have been
abused, ill-treated and became victims of unfair labor practice are costly and
a lengthy fight.
The proposed
cut would undermine the ability of our Consulate Offices to file legal actions
that would protect thousands of Filipinos abroad working for their families to
survive the poverty-stricken living condition of our fellow “kababayans” in the
Philippines.
How
unfortunate that this is what we get for being the “modern day heroes.” No country would treat their heroes this way;
it is insane to reducelegal assistance fund to a meager 27 million a year. The lack of funds as a reason for letting piteous
Pinoy OFWs die in other countries brought by inability to legally defend their
case would be tragic, senseless and an insensitive display of our government’s
agenda on OFWs and other migrant workers.
Please,
please! We seek for your forthright
defense of our already underprivileged sector whose only intention is to let
their families live a good life, send their children or siblings to school, save
the Philippine economy and let our nation become great again. As Filipino Expatriates and OFWs, we provide
our nation with new hope, we let the world see our eminence in various field,
we make each of us proud to become Filipino and yet, the government has been
less and less appreciative of our contribution by decreasing our means to be
protected from legal scuffles.
As united
bloggers in different parts of the world, we will continue to knock, beat our drums
and reach every home with Internet to let the world know that this is not fair,
that this is an injustice to our welfare and would send our many fellow
Filipinos working abroad into the mud of legal demise.
We hope that
this plead will not fall on deaf ears, we are in a new era of governance, our
new administration have relentlessly brandished renewal as their guiding
thrust, prove to us that you care for
the OFWs by scrapping the proposed cut from DFA’s Legal Assistance Fund.
Pinoy Expats OFW Blog Awards (PEBA) www.pinoyblogawards.com
PEBA-OFW Alliance Action Group
Kablogs (Gateway of OFW Bloggers) www.ofwkablogs.com
For
more information on this statement, please contact:
PEBA, Inc.
Felix Jigs G.
Segre, Program Director, Head of PR & Media Affairs
Tel. Nos.: +63915.393.4770
or +632.219.1018
Email: jigs_segre@yahoo.com
Email: jigsegre@pinoyblogawards.com
©2010 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards
