Press Release
May 6, 2009

40 distressed OFWs from Poland return

At least 40 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who fell victim to contract substitution in Poland are set to arrive in Manila tomorrow (May 7, 8:45 a.m.) via KLM flight 0803.

Recently, 96 OFWs led by Ronaldo Corpuz, made a distress call to the helpline set up by Nacionalista Party President Manny Villar for beleaguered Filipino migrant workers due to contract violations, diminution of agreed salaries, and poor working conditions.

All OFWs were employed in a glass-making company in Aleksandrow Lodzki. After deciding to stop work, a number of them were terminated and asked to leave the company accommodation premises, forcing them to stay in the church without protection from the cold and relying on food donations.

Following Senator Villar's timely call to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Carmelita Dimzon to promptly attend to the case, the Philippine Embassy facilitated the OFWs' request for repatriation, with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and OWWA visiting the OFWs.

"Our workers who have returned with empty hands have been grossly exploited and those accountable in this case must be promptly pursued," Villar said, as he urged the POEA to expedite its work while himself supporting the migrant workers' reintegration.

The migrant workers said they were promised "good employment" by their agency in Manila but ended up getting a measly equivalent of P12,000 to P14,000 each as monthly salary in Poland.

Signing up for a US$500 to $750 contract monthly with their agency in Manila, they paid $720 placement and P6,000 additional fee each prior to their departure last March in three batches, only to realize that the salary rate they would receive could be earned in the Philippines which they had to leave in search of greener pastures. "Our agency back in the Philippines fooled us regarding our salary," Corpuz said.

The migrant workers were recruited from Metro Manila, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, Cavite, Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Benguet, and Negros Occidental.

The helpline set up by Villar has been instrumental in calling attention and providing timely assistance to distressed OFWs, the protection and welfare of whom are one of his core advocacies as he bats for conducive economic conditions in the country to give them opportunities as a long-term solution.

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