STATEMENT OF SEN. WIN GATCHALIAN ON THE MURDER OF JULLEBEE RANARA

The gruesome murder of an overseas Filipino worker, Ms. Jullebee Ranara, begs the question of whether we have done enough as a nation to protect OFWs who have made the grand sacrifice of leaving their loved ones behind just so they can provide for their families. The answer is obviously negative.

I call on the Department of Migrant Workers to ensure the resolution of this case until justice and reparation have been achieved and provide all the necessary support and assistance to the family of Ms. Ranara.

The incident, which follows similar incidents in the past, necessitates the need for the government to provide our people with much-needed employment opportunities in the country with competitive compensation to alleviate the need for them to look for jobs elsewhere.

This was foremost in our mind in pursuing amendments to the Foreign Investments Act and Retail Trade Liberalization Act to attract international investors to set up and fully own domestic enterprises in the country and subsequently, generate more jobs.

Dahil sa mga insidenteng ito, lalo dapat tayong magpurisigi na palakasin ang ating ekonomiya para sa kalaunan ay hindi na kailangan pang umalis para magtrabaho ang karamihan sa ating mga kababayan na ngayon ay nakikipagsapalaran sa ibang bansa.