Publish OWWA Funds Statement

OFW leader, migrant group ask OWWA to publish OWWA funds Statement of Account

Press Release
21 February 2010

A leader of the most active Filipino migrant workers alliance in the Middle East and its members today send a letter to Overseas Workers Welfare Administrator Carmelita Dimzon asking the latter to provide them a recent Statement of Account of the OWWA funds held in trust to the government.

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona on its letter dated February 21, 2010 sent to OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon invoked that as member of the OWWA, in which he just renewed his membership last February 9, 2010 with Official Receipt No. 5336980, and due to the demands of Migrante members who are also OWWA members requested the OWWA administrator to furnish them a recent copy of the OWWA funds Statement of Accounts.

“What decided us to send a formal letter of request to OWWA Administrator Dimzon to provide us a recent copy of OWWA Funds Statement of Account is out of apprehension that again these funds, a compulsory collection of US$25 per departing OFW, would be misused and diverted for partisan and electoral agenda by the present administration to favor its candidates for the May 2010 elections,” Monterona averred.

On the said letter, Monterona cited the previous ‘anomalies’ and misuses of the OWWA funds such as the P260M bogus claims exposed by then OWWA Administrator Virgilio Angelo himself just to justify OWWA Medicare fund transfer to Philhealth under the present Arroyo Administration, the un-audited US$293,500 for the Middle East Preparedness Team headed by General Roy Cimatu during the US war of aggression to Iraq where repatriation of OFWs never took placed anyway under the present Arroyo administration, the alleged illegal granting of P40 million incentives and allowances to its officials and employees for the past three years (2005 to 2007), the POEA giving permission to its Executives and employees who were issued mobile phones to download about P796,000.00 worth of games, tones and picture messages and other unauthorized items, among others.

“Invoking our rights to know the status of the OWWA funds and in the name of transparency and accountability guaranteed by the basic laws of the land, we demand your good office to provide us the most recent statement of Account of the OWWA funds,” Monterona said on his letter.

Migrante-Middle East also demanded from OWWA Administrator Dimzon to send a copy of the OWWA funds Statement of Account to all RP posts including those in the Middle East and to be posted at their respective offices for the information and knowledge of OWWA-member OFWs before and after the May 2010 elections.

“By doing so, OFWs who are member of OWWA would be assured that their contributions are spared from any partisan and electoral schemes by the ruling administration to advance its own political agenda,” Monterona said. (End) # # #

Reference:
John Leonard Monterona
Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator
Mobile No.: 00966 564 97 8012