RIYADH, 12 June 2006 — A plan by the Philippine Embassy to hold separate celebrations for the Filipino community in Riyadh, one for so-called leaders and another for “ordinary OFWs,” has come under fire from members of the community.
As planned, one gathering is exclusive for leaders of the embassy’s Accredited Community Partners (ACPs) on Thursday night. Another one, dubbed Filipino community night, is to be held on Friday for the “ordinary” folks.
Although Philippine Independence Day is on June 12, celebrations in the Kingdom and elsewhere in the Middle East are held at an extended period to adjust to local workday schedules.
In Riyadh, the celebration starts today with a flag-raising ceremony at the embassy. A diplomatic reception is to be held at the Sheraton Hotel tomorrow at 7 p.m.
In e-mails and text messages received by Arab News, the message was clear and resounding: All Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) should be treated equally regardless of age, gender, creed, economic status, profession and educational attainment.
“It is time to stop this kind of treatment; God knows we are all the same...,” said Tas Espiritu, a systems developer who was behind the OFW SOS project, a round-the-clock hotline for SMS message from distressed Filipino workers anywhere in the world.
A message sent through the hotline goes directly to government agencies or to non-government organizations such as the Pusong Mamon Task Force (PMTF) in Saudi Arabia and the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) in the Philippines for action.
“We are supposed to be celebrating Freedom Day. Why can’t they junk this master-slave mentality?” Espiritu said in Filipino.
Danny Mangilit, a secretary at a major company in Riyadh, said that independence celebrations should mean getting together on equal footing, devoid of elitist trappings.
“There must not even be a distinction in profession. Whether you are an engineer, a doctor or a laborer, we are all the same, we are all Filipinos working abroad,” he said.
For beautician Melona Santillan, all OFWs should be free to visit the embassy anytime, without worries.
Rashid Fabricante, one of the action officers of PMTF, expressed concern that the organizers of this year’s celebrations in Riyadh may be trying to “drive a wedge” between community leaders and other members of the community.
Such a move, he said, “is not only uncalled for but a cheap way of further polarizing the already chaotic situation of our community.”
Consul General Nestor Padalhin, the chargé d’affaires at the embassy, said in a phone interview assured the community that there is no intention to discriminate against anyone.
He said the separate celebrations are meant to avoid a “chaotic situation” that could arise in a one-day celebration.
“We also have to recognize that these organizations have leaders,” Padalhin explained.
A mechanical engineer, who asked not to be named, suggested that the DFA revive its program of providing “sensitivity training” to members of the diplomatic corps. “If I remember correctly, then President Fidel V. Ramos ordered such program to be institutionalized amid complaints that many of our diplomats or foreign service officers refused to help distressed OFWs seeking help,” he said.
