DAMMAM, 5 November — Overseas Filipino Workers will have to wait until January for the decision of the United Nations Compensation Council (UNCC) if it will reopen the filing of application for Gulf War Claims, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila has said.
Ambassador Bayani Mangibin had asked the UNCC Governing Council to reconsider the Philippine government's request to allow OFWs who failed to file their applications for compensation when the deadline expired in 1996, said the DFA’s Philippine Compensation and Claims Committee Secretariat (PCCCS). Mangibin presented his proposal during the UNCC meeting held on Oct. 1 to 3, said the PCCCS in a statement.
It said the UNCC had rejected outright the Philippines’ request. However, due to the argument presented by Mangibin, the Governing Council held its decision until its next meeting on Dec. 10 to 12.
It was learned that PCCCS returned to UNCC some of the unclaimed funds approved for the Filipino claimants because the claimants could not be located. UNCC, however, can't use the returned funds for other purposes other than give it to the rightful claimants, according to PCCCS.
Mangibin, who used to head the PCCCS, will be assigned as ambassador to Iraq within this month, according to Freda Contreras Buhaimed, editor of the Suite101.com which is based in Kuwait. He will be replaced by Ambassador Leonides Caday as PCCCS chief.