Villar Welcomes Distressed OFWs Back From Dubai
Senator's Sagip-OFW Helpline helps repatriate OFWs

Senator Manny Villar, will personally welcome at the Ninoy Aquino International Aiport (NAIA) Terminal 1 three (3) Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Dubai who sought his assistance through his Sagip-OFW Helpline. Garnet Ann Adriano, Mary-Anne Collado and Charmie Taban-ud--who were maltreated by their employer--will arrive on Monday (March 5) aboard Qatar Airways.

Villar met the three OFWs during his trip to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January this year, where he visited Philippine Overseas Labor Office of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration or POLO-OWWA. The senator immediately responded to the request of the three OFWs in the form of airfare and some financial assistance.

Adriano, 26 years old, will arrive in a wheelchair due to the spinal fracture she sustained when she jumped from the building where she used to work because her Pakistani employer refused to allow her to go back home to the country. She was confined to a hospital in Dubai from October to December last year, after which she stayed at POLO-OWWA office, where she met Villar early this year. Villar paid for Adriano's court fee, so she can secure an exit visa and return to the Philippines. The employer of Collado and Taban-ud, 26 and 24 years old respectively, filed charges against them. They were jailed for charges, which according to them were not true and are mere accusations. "Napakahirap po ng dinanas namin, ipinakulong kami sa kasalanang hindi naman po namin ginawa. Hindi po namin alam kung kanino kami tatakbo." said the two OFWs from Sultan Kudarat.

The repatriation of the three OFWs has also been made possible through the efforts of the POLO-OWWA welfare officers in Dubai.

Having met many OFWs in the UAE that are in dire need of help, Villar cited: "Dapat nating tulungan ang lahat ng OFW's dokumentado man o hindi dahil napakalaki rin ng kanilang kontribusyon sa pagiging matatag ng ating ekonomiya dahil sa kanilang remittances. Nararapat lang na maibalik din sa kanila ng pamahalaan ang tulong na nadadala nila sa bansa." (We need to help all the OFWs, both documented or undocumented, because they are propping up our economy through their remittances. The government should repay the OFWs for their valuable contribution.)