“This is outrageous, considering that OFWs have been called 'modern day heroes',” said Resty Sibug, president of the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME), referring to the importance of OFW remittances to the country's economy. “Twenty-seven million pesos is but a pittance compared to the $4.339 billion remitted by OFWs to the Philippines in the first quarter of 2010.”

Under Republic Act No. 10022 (Migrant Workers Act), the LAF allocation is 100 million pesos.

However, due to the big budget deficit being attributed to the Arroyo administration, the Aquino government has deemed it proper to cut the allocations for various departments of the government, including the DFA whose budget for 2011 is down from 19 billion pesos to 10.98 billion pesos.

“But the government should be selective in its choice of departments whose budgets will be  decreased. It should bear in mind the big help of OFWs in propping up the economy,” said Corly N. Obtinalla, secretary general of the assistance to nationals and political affairs of the  Jeddah-based Kasapi Congress.

Jun A. Estrueche, president of  the 1,400-member Saudi Arabia Hiligaynon (SAHI), said while it is true that OFWs are supposed to be generally better off financially, many of them have not been as lucky as others, adding that many of them are languishing in jails not only in the Kingdom but also in other countries.

“There are 108 OFWs on death row. Seven thousand are in jails abroad and at least 10,000 are  stranded and seeking repatriation from the Middle East alone,” said Usman P. Navarro, Riyadh-based  country manager of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) that helps OFWs remit their savings.

Susan Ople, former labor undersecretary and head of the nongovernmental Blas F. Ople Policy Center, urged President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to, “reconsider the deeps cuts,” which she described as “untimely and unjustifiable.”

After hearing the sentiments of OFWs and various sectors regarding the cut in the LAF, Aquino said his administration may seek a supplemental budget from Congress for legal assistance for OFWs.

The announcement, however, barely mollified OFWs, “whose love of country is undiminished and who plan to retire in the Philippines.”

“The need for legal assistance is the more necessary when the jailed OFWs are not guilty,” said Eric P. Asi, an engineer with Nardeen Lighting in Riyadh. “Injustice was already committed when they were thrown in jail, and this is exacerbated when there are no lawyers to defend them because of lack of funds.”

In Jubail, Arnel Lianco, a supervisor at Al-Kather Est., said: “I join fellow OFWs in raising a voice of protest against the cut in the Legal Assistance Fund. We need a bigger fund.”

One instance when a lawyer is needed to fight a case is that of alleged abuse and death of Romilyn Eroy-Ibanez, a maid from Northern Cotabato, who was found unconscious in September with stab wounds and acid burns in the kitchen of her employer's residence in Alkhobar. She was rushed to the hospital by the Red Crescent but later died. The Philippine Embassy hired a lawyer based in Alkhobar to fight the case.

Another instance was the case of Nonito Abono who was released recently after he served two-thirds of his 10-year sentence. The Department of Foreign Affairs Office of Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs assisted in paying the blood money in that case.