MANILA, 10 June 2003 — The largest migrant related non-government organization (NGO) said it would no longer oppose the transfer of OWWA-Medicare to the Philippine Health Insurance Inc. (Philhealth). But another migrant group said it was ready to use the power of the ballot to stop the transfer.
“We were initially against the transfer because we thought overseas Filipino worker (OFW) funds would be diluted and OFWs would have no representation on the Philhealth board,” Executive Director of Kaibigan ng OFW Noel Josue said.
In dialogues among the NGOs, Philhealth and OWWA Deputy Administrator Delmer Cruz, Philhealth was able to assure migrant-related non-government organizations (NGOs) like Kaibigan ng OFW that the fund would be better protected with them.
Josue also said Philhealth had the expertise and actual studies on the matter and OWWA did not have this.
Furthermore, with OWWA-Medicare as part of Philhealth, more OFW beneficiaries will be able to avail of the medical benefits of being OWWA members.
“In the past, there was no OWWA-Medicare information campaign so OFWs did not really understand their benefits,” Josue said.
Josue also cited the fact that “the frontline personnel of OWWA-Medicare were unapproachable and irritable.” He said this may have been the reason why OWWA’s service to OFWs has been less than desirable.
But Carmelita Nuqui, Executive Director of Development Action for Women (DAWN) and Chairman of the Philippine Migrant Rights Watch (PMRW) said they would still have to reassess their stand on the transfer.
OWWA’s performance has really not been that good, she said. “Besides, we really want to know the motivation behind the transfer,” Nuqui said.
“We are just questioning the rationale behind the use of OFW money for almost all emergency cases such as the contingency plans during the US-Iraq war,” Nuqui said.
She added that if OFWs were really heroes, the Philippine government should have a budget for their needs.
But Josue said the transfer was hard to prevent because it was something both President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas were angling for.
“It was just held up at first because there was opposition to the move. But this time we will no longer oppose it,” Josue said, adding that, “we think the fund will be better taken care of and more will be able to avail of the benefits.”
He said Philhealth also assured us they would give representation to the OFWs on the board. Any amendments to their charter can come later but they will allow an OFW representative to sit on the board immediately.
OWWA will also have their own representative on the Philhealth board.
Meanwhile, a Davao City based migrant NGO said they would use their influence as voters to stop the government from transferring about P3.6 billion in medical care funds from OWWA to Philhealth. Ramon Naguita, president of Federation of Overseas Filipino Workers for Southern Mindanao, said the OFWs would use the newly approved absentee voting law to prevent the Philippine Government from pushing with the fund transfer.
“It is about time to use the power of the absentee voting law. There are 7.6 million OFWs and even if less than 50 percent can cast their votes that is three million plus their dependents (and that can be translated to) 12 million votes. With 12 million, we can choose a president sympathetic to the OFWs,” said Naguita.
As a first step, he said, his group would bring the issue to court to prevent the transfer of the funds. They would also seek an audience with President Arroyo when she visits Davao City next week. Naguita said the move to transfer the funds to Philhealth was never approved by OWWA board, nor did the government consult the OFWs.
