Riyadh Group Says Yes to OFW Political Party

Overseas Filipinos in the capital city of Saudi Arabia  endorsed the creation of an OFW led national political party in a meeting held in Al Mutlaq Hotel last August 3, 2007.

“The Participants” Presiding Officer Mr. Alex Veloso Bello

The 34 representatives of various Filipino organizations in this part of the Kingdom who participated in the meeting convened by the Overseas Filipino Workers Congress were one in saying that the best solution to the present and recurring problems that beset the overseas Filipinos worldwide is to be represented in government.

Francis Oca “Mitigating the Impact of Dollar Decline”

The group deplored the government’s failure to effectively address issues that affect the overseas Filipinos and their families. The group pointed out that one such issue is the continuing depreciation of the US dollar. 

The delegates pointed out that while salaries in the jobsites have not increased, the cost of living, especially apartment rentals, has gone up.  This means that income available for remittance to families back home are now less compared to a year or two ago.

The situation became worse when the US dollar started to depreciate.  The group noted that while the dollar continues to depreciate during the last ten months, prices of prime commodities, including transportation and tuition fees, continue to rise. With the 18% percent decrease in the value of dollar remittances, and a conservative estimate of 10% increase in household expenses, the community leaders pointed out that an OFW who used to remit $300 monthly, will now have to send $405 to support his family’s day to day expenses.

 The community leaders lament, that while the Administration looked for and helped implement ways and means to soften the impact of the dollar’s decline on the exporters group, it has not done the same to help the OFWs and their families.

Another OFW concern where government continues to fail to provide satisfactory attention is on the provision of assistance to distress overseas Filipinos.  The group cited the case of Elenita Pailanan, a caregiver who died in Canada. When friends and relatives asked help from the Philippine consulate in Ontario for the repatriation of Elenita’s remains, the consulate officials refused to help.

In a more recent case, Maria Catherine Sarabia, a 31 year old Filipina fromCavite sought the help of Philippine embassy officials here last Tuesday on her wish to be repatriated like those of other Filipinos that were sent home through the effort of the Philippine consulate in Jeddah. Unfortunately for Catherine and her 4-month old baby, the embassy official she spoke to simply said they cannot give her any help.

Frustrated of not being able to get help from the embassy, Catherine spent

SR800 of whatever savings she has to pay for her fare to Jeddah.  Because she and her baby do not have complete travel documents, Catherine has to take on one of those cargo truck whose driver is willing to smuggle her to Jeddah for a fee, SR800.  She left Riyadh at 3:00 in the morning of Thursday.

The group noted that while government officials continue to pay lip service to overseas Filipinos by referring to them as “modern day heroes”, they really have not done so much to address the problems of OFWs.  The group stressed that it is time to unite.

A National Party is Better than a Party List

The group noted that since the OFW sector joined the political arena through

Outline of an OFW-Led National Political Party

 the party list system, its best performance was way back in 1998, when UNIFIL garnered 1.11% of the total votes cast during that election.  The group also noted that the poor performances were partly due to competition among OFW party list groups who then opted to run separately instead of just one.

The Party List system itself is also a limiting factor because of its provision that only 20% of the total number of representatives in the Lower House will come from party lists.

The creation of a national party, on the other hand, will give the overseas Filipinos and their families a wider playing field to participate in. OFW representation will no longer be limited to a couple of representatives in the house, because the national party can, wherever possible, field candidates for positions starting from the Barangay Captain up to the President.

The Riyadh group’s endorsement is expected to be followed by other OFW groups in other regions of the Kingdom.

The Dollar’s Decline

In the same meeting, the delegates unanimously agreed to call on relevant government offices, including the Office of the President, to find ways and means to mitigate the impact on OFW remittances of the dollar’s continued decline. The group is asking the government to look into and study the possibility of adopting the following options:

1. Implementation of a special exchange rate for OFW remittances;

2. Peg the Peso - Dollar exchange rate

3. Provide Remittance Incentives, in the form of rewards based on the amount of remittances.

On a voluntary basis, the group also called on their fellow overseas Filipinos worldwide to reduce their monthly remittances during the next couple of months to a level which will not compromise their families’ needs.  They also urged those who have extra funds to keep their money offshore until the exchange rate has stabilized.

United OFW National Chair Engr. Frank Naval “Lists of RP Regions Available for Elective Posts”

 

The Al Mutlaq meeting is only the first in a series of meetings that will be held in the different cities of the Kingdom in relation to the worldwide movement to organize an OFW-led political party. ###