DAMMAM, 3 May 2006 — Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will be welcomed with a lot of issues and concerns from various Filipino groups when she comes to the Kingdom for a visit next week.
Community organizations in Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Region are now busy preparing their position papers and wish lists in hopes that the president will listen and act on them.
Embassy officials said Arroyo and her retinue will arrive in Riyadh on May 7, primarily to meet with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
Arroyo will also meet with representatives of Filipino community organizations in Riyadh on Monday at 8 p.m.
On Tuesday, she will meet community representatives in Jeddah at 9 a.m., after which she will fly to Alkhobar to meet the community in the evening. She will return home on May 10.
According to Chargé d’Affaires Germinia Aguilar-Usudan, it was the president herself who wished to meet the community.
Roi Alojado, overall chairman of the All Filipino Community and Sports Commission (Afscom), said the group is now consolidating all the issues and concerns from member organizations which they will submit to Arroyo. “We surely will submit the concerns of the OFWs in this region, primarily the immediate implementation of the government programs for the welfare of the OFWs here,” Alojado said.
Among other concerns that the OFWs in eastern Saudi Arabia would like to hear from Arroyo is their long-time request for a consulate in the region, said Ernie Mapanao, president of the OFW Congress in the Eastern Province (OWFCEP)
Buddy Alpuerto, president of the PGMA-KSA Movement which campaigned for Arroyo in the Kingdom during the presidential elections in 2004, said they are asking for an OFW Retirement Program.
“OFWs have no retirement benefit or plan from the companies they work for and their severance pay is not enough for their needs in time of retirement,” he said.
Groups in Riyadh and Jeddah are demanding the restructuring of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
“The current structure of OWWA does not really address the real needs of the OFWs,” said Yanbu-based Ronnie Abeto of the V-Team, a Kingdomwide group of volunteers helping distressed OFWs and fighting for migrant workers’ rights and welfare.
The V-Team comprises volunteer groups such as the Pusong Mamon Task Force, a partner of the embassy in helping troubled OFWs; the eLagda, which spearheaded a signature campaign for the resignation of former President Estrada in year 2000 amid charges of massive corruption; and the ICOFVR, which led the campaign for the passage of the Overseas Absentee Voting law.
Duane Sta. Ana, also of the V-Team, wants to hear from Arroyo why the government plans to use OWWA funds to prop up the bankrupt Philippine Postal Bank, which the government is converting into a remittance bank for overseas Filipinos.
“We need to be consulted since this (OWWA fund) is a trust fund and should not be touched,” according to Sta. Ana.
Ricardo Maniego, a steel supervisor in Dammam, said that he is very happy that finally Arroyo will visit Saudi Arabia. “Even if we will not be given a chance to see her, what is important is that she visited us here, which clearly shows that our president really cares for us,” Maniego said.
“I am very glad that our beloved president is coming so that she could see herself our situation here, particularly the domestic helpers, and other small workers like me,” dressmaker Josie Edrial said in Alkhobar.
