Update on the OWWA funds mess

Bakit kokonti lang ang OWWA money na na-allocate para sa OFWs na na stranded sa Lebanon? Do we really have enough money to evacuate the OFWs from Lebanon? I'm sure may natitira pang OWWA funds, pero mukhang gagamitin lang ito ulit sa ibang bagay, like let's say... the 2007 Election (katulad nang nangyari sa 2004 Elections) at sa Cha Cha. Ganyan rin ang nangyari sa Fertilizer funds, Road Users tax at PHILHEALTH cards, diba?

From Ellen Tordesillas:

Pinaggalitan si Ambassador Francis Al Bichara ng Department of Foreign Affairs dahil sinabi niya na kaya mabagal ang evacuation ng mga OFW mula Lebanon dahil kinukulang sila ng pera.

Siyempre magagalit talaga ang DFA at Malacañang dahil sinabi ito ni Bichara, isang araw matapos magyabang si Gloria Arroyo sa kanyang state-of-the nation address na “May pera na… may pera tayo”.

Itong pagmamayagpag ni Arroyo na “May pera tayo” ay kasama sa kanyang propaganda na magaling siyang pangulo kaya raw “may pera na tayo.”

Kailangan rin ni Arroyo ibando na marami siyang pera na pamumudmud para hindi siya iwanan ng mga kongresista na boboto sa impeachment. Parang sinasabi sa kanila na “May pambayad ako sa inyo. Magkano ba ang gusto nyo?” Ganun rin ang mga local officials na siyang tumutulak ng Charter Change.

Nabuking sila ngayon ni Bichara na kailangan magsabi ng totoo dahil siya doon ang nagu-organisa ng evacuation ng mga OFWs. Kailagan ang pagkain para sa mga Filipino workers na nasa evacuation center.

Kailangan din ni Bichara mag-hire ng mga bus na sasakyan ng mga OFW paalis sa Lebanon hanggang sa Syria. Harang raw ang presyo ng mga bus ngayon sa Lebanon ngunit wala namang magawa at ganun talaga sa panahon ng krisis.

Sa pagsabi ni Bichara na wala silang pera, di parang sampal yan kay Arroyo na katatapos lang magyabang na “may pera na tayo. Walang pinag-iba yun kay dating acting secretary fe Hidalgo na nagsabi na kulang ng sobra 6,000 classrooms sa pasukan samantalang pinagyayabang ni Arroyo na dahil magaling siya, nabigyan na niya ng solusyon ang kakulangan ng classrooms. Yun nga, siniksik niya ang isang daang estudyante sa isang classroom.

More here.

At kung walang tinatago ang mga Arroyo officials na responsable sa evacuation ng mga OFWs sa Lebanon, bakit ayaw nilang um-attend sa Senate hearing?

Sabi ng Arroyo officials, they were "too busy" saving Filipino lives in Lebanon to attend such hearings.

But if they were too busy to go to the Senate inquiry, why did the same group of executives hold a press conference while the hearing was simultaneously ongoing.

Senator Arroyo and Estrada reacts:

Senator Arroyo said while Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita may have raised some valid points in questioning the Senate invitation, what tainted the position of the Executive was the fact that the same group of executives held a press conference while the hearing was ongoing.

But Estrada rejected this, saying that the Senate is not required to submit a list of questions to be asked by the panel. “Second, the other reason for not showing up is that there is no statute. These are mere technicalities. What is important here are the missing funds of the OWWA and of course the safety of our OFWs in Lebanon. I just want to know the truth and where the money went, that’s my main concern. And my primordial concern is the safety of our Filipino workers.

“If they were indeed busy in the evacuation of OFWs as claimed by Ermita, why did they hold a press conference in Malacanang simultaneous with our hearing?” he pointed out.

By Jove said the administration lied again about them allowing their officials to attend the Senate hearings on the Lebanon/OWWA situation.

MORE: From Conrad de Quiros: Bichara's goose is cooked

FOR SAYING THE EVACUATION OF THE FILIPINO OFWs in Lebanon was a mess for lack of funds, the whole thing being left to chance, God, and the elements whichever proved more merciful, Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Al Francis Bichara now finds himself in deep—well, let’s just say—debris. Malacañang is furious and has denied his assessment of things.

The Owwa funds are intact, Marianito Roque said angrily, and even then were being used to bring the OFWs home. He demanded that Bichara be investigated for causing the furor that arose over the funds, the Senate now demanding to know where these are. Alarmed by how his assessment has been received by the people who have hired and can fire him, Bichara has apologized profoundly for his error. He could have saved himself the trouble: It won’t save him.

Conrad makes another good point:

Which brings me to the difference between what he and his government are saying. Bichara is in Lebanon, he probably knows the language and the custom of the people, he can actually see and hear what he is reporting. What he can see is panic, what he can hear are screams, and what he knows is that he has no money to give the ever-growing refugees refuge. Hell, he can’t even give them food, he has to rely on the kindness of strangers and humanitarian agencies. (Roque would subsequently say that is because the money has not been coursed through him but through their own representative in Lebanon. Go figure.)

Bichara’s assessment is backed up by the Filipino priest there, Fr. Agustin Advincula, who runs the Church of the Miraculous Medal in Beirut. Deluged by Filipinos who have managed to escape the bombing by the skin of their teeth, many of them penurious from having been abandoned by their employers at the first sign of danger, and not knowing where to turn to while the nationals of other countries were being plucked out of danger in ships by their governments, he issued a wounded cry that rose up to heaven itself: “Where have the OFW billions gone?”

We don’t know if Malacañang has asked Archbishops Fernando Capalla and Ramon Arguelles to ask the CBCP to ask Advincula to shut up. We know Malacañang has asked Bichara to shut up and let them do the talking. We do know several other things as well.

So where did the funds go. de Quiros offers some clues:

We know that the first advice the Department of Foreign Affairs gave the OFWs in Lebanon was to hitch a ride with passing vehicles as though they were in some village in the Visayas or Mindanao. We know that the second advice it gave to them was to pack up and go, as though they were loitering around waiting for their pay while the place was being turned to rubble.

We know that the OFWs have no Medicare funds. Before the 2004 elections, GMA transferred the Medicare funds of the OFWs to PhilHealth, which then issued cards, not unlike her campaign posters, showing her cradling an infant. Subsequently, the DOLE stopped Owwa from reimbursing OFWs who had incurred medical expenses. Roque says he welcomes an inquiry into the Owwa funds. That’s what GMA said too about impeachment. By all means the Senate should take him on, if only to see where else whole portions of the funds have been diverted to.

We know that GMA is willing to spend billions to reward her friends and allies. That was what the Sona was all about. It was about a division of spoils—or so GMA promised, if her own friends and allies could believe her. I did say that GMA did well to remind us at the beginning or her Sona about the plight of the OFWs in Lebanon, which is not unlike the plight of most of us today, only to tell us how she meant to use our money. The OFWs, their families and the migrant groups should make a poster showing the pictures of the people GMA expressly named in that Sona (a veritable rogues’ gallery!) with the caption, “Where have all the OFW billions gone?”

I remember that only a few months ago, we had a very similar case. Acting Education Secretary Fe Hidalgo had the misfortune of telling us we lacked 6,832 classrooms. This made GMA furious. She said Hidalgo didn’t answer her question which was: How many classrooms exceeded the 1-100 teacher-student ratio. The assumption being that teachers doing double shift could cover 100 students adequately. Hidalgo subsequently apologized. The 6,832 classroom shortage, Hidalgo would explain later, was based on the “ideal” ratio of 1 teacher to 45 students. Which showed only how horrendous our concept of ideal now is. In countries like Korea, the current reality, never mind ideal, is a PC-to-student ratio in classrooms of 1 to 1.

Hidalgo never became education secretary.

Last year, GMA apologized to the nation for telling a lie. This year, at least two major government officials have apologized to her for telling the truth. Last year, GMA rewarded herself for her “lapse in judgment” by clinging to a position she did not win. This year, her officials are routinely punished for their temporary insanity in thinking they can keep their jobs by doing their jobs. Last year, GMA made lying a lofty virtue.

This year, she has made honesty a crime.

Word.

More here Ramon Tulfo: OWWA money ended up in the 2004 polls; here’s how

HERE’S a tip for the Senate on where to find the missing funds of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa):

A total of P3.4 billion in Owwa Medicare funds was transferred to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) before the 2004 presidential election.

The money was supposedly to fund the health insurance coverage of all Filipino citizens by Philhealth. Republic Act 7875 supposedly mandates Philhealth to do that.

In a memorandum to President Macapagal-Arroyo on Nov. 20, 2002, Francisco T. Duque, then Philhealth president and chief executive officer, proposed the transfer of the Owwa Medicare fund to Philhealth.

“The proposed transfer will have a significant bearing on the 2004 elections. I will be available to explain in greater detail the far-reaching implications of the transfer. May I ask that we meet personally?” Duque told the President in that memo.

No wonder Duque is now the health secretary. The Cabinet post was his reward for that brilliant idea.
=====
Executive Order No. 182 carrying out the transfer of the Owwa Medicare fund to Philhealth was signed for the President by then Executive Secretary Alberto G. Romulo

The EO was issued on Feb. 14, 2003, a year and three months before the 2004 election.

Section 2 of E0 182 stated: “Transfer of Medicare Funds of the Owwa—The Medicare Funds being administered by the Owwa shall be transferred to the PHIC (Philhealth) within sixty days from the effectivity of this Executive Order.”

Read the whole thing.

UPDATE: OWWA gave $19,000, Bichara told probers (Aug 1, 2006)

AMBASSADOR to Lebanon Al Francis Bichara yesterday told a Senate inquiry into the evacuation Filipinos in Lebanon that $19,000 was all that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) had sent to the embassy.

Bichara said the money was wired to a personal bank account of a welfare officer who is also based in Lebanon.

"It was not directly (remitted) to the accounts of the embassy," Bichara told the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development chaired by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

Bichara, who testified through phone patch from Lebanon, said the money was remitted to a bank account of OWWA welfare officer Mario Antonio days after the hostilities broke out in Lebanon about two weeks ago.

.....

Bichara told the Senate panel he was made aware of the existence of the funds only when Antonio showed him the bank account confirming the transfer.

The ambassador, however, said the funds were not sufficient and his office had to use its own budget to feed and gather the Filipinos in Lebanon.

He said $150,000 arrived just yesterday in Damascus, Syria. It was sent through Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis.

Bichara told the Senate committee he originally asked for $1.1 million to cover the evacuation of 10,000 Filipinos.

He said he has not seen and has had no access to the $107,151 and the $465,000 supposedly allocated by government for evacuation efforts.

"Negative your honor," he said on questioning of Sen. Joker Arroyo if his office has received the money.

Anyway, I got this from Ducky Paredes:

"The best man for this job is Ambassador Bichara. He is half-Lebanese and half-Filipino, so you know his heart is there." – Lebanon’s Consul in Manila Joseph F.K. Assad Assad.

Don't tell that to the arroyo admin tho..

Uniffors meanwhile noticed something from the recent press release from malacanang:

The Malacanan press release reported the following development:
“Meanwhile, Andaya said he has forwarded to Congress a request for an additional P500 million as standby fund in their proposed supplemental budget. ANDAYA SAID THE P500 MILLION WILL SERVE AS STANDBY FUND IN CASE THERE IS A SHORTAGE IN THE EXPENSES FOR THE EVACUATION OF THE OFWS.”

Ano? The more than P7 billion OWWA fund is not enough to fund the repatriation ?

If the OWWA fund still exists then send some money to Bicharra and Modena so they can do their jobs.

Achieving Happiness says na the siphoning of OWWA funds has been going on for a long time na under the ARroyo admin, and she has lots of info on it.

More here from the Malaya Editorial and PCIJ (the Truth about OWWA funds and more questions about the repatriation plan)

UPDATE: It's about effing time. For the first time, gov't chartes PAL planes for Lebanon evacuees.

More here. Like they say, it's BETTER late than NEVER.

and from Ernesto Maceda:

The escape route from Beirut to Damascus, Syria, was closed two days ago, 19 days after the hostilities began. Now 28,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are trapped in Lebanon. Why? Because GMA was in Libya when the war began. Special envoy Roy Cimatu arrived in Beirut after seven days. The funds were slow in coming, thus limiting the options affordable by the cash strapped Philippine Embassy. Ambassador Al Bichara in frustration spoke up and said he had no funds to effect the evacuation for which he was castigated by Malacañang. Finally on the 20th day, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) acted and announced the release of $2 million for the evacuation.

Meanwhile, Fr. Gestie Advincula, the heroic Filipino priest of the Church of the Miraculous Medal, significantly expressed the hope in a TV interview that funds were used properly and implied that the funds were being misused.

The Lebanon evacuation disaster is another sad story of how the GMA government works — slow to act and questionable misuse of public funds. And yet, it promises to complete P1.02-trillion worth of mega projects in three years. Looks like another Lubao zarzuela.

sigh...

UPDATE; From Conrad de Quiros:

I GOT this letter in my e-mail, sent to the Inquirer editor in chief by Philippine Health Insurance Corp., or PhilHealth:

"We wish to emphasize that there is no truth to what Mr. De Quiros claimed that the P530M was transferred by the Owwa [Overseas Workers Welfare Administration] to PhilHealth in 2004 for 'patent electoral purposes.' In fact, the said amount was transferred to us only in March 2005, long after the national elections in 2004. The first tranche worth P300M was transferred on March 16 and the second and final tranche worth P230M was transferred on April 15."

The letter is signed by Lorna Fajardo, acting president and CEO. The rest of her letter enumerates the things PhilHealth has done for the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) since their Medicare funds were entrusted to it. "We invite Mr. De Quiros to visit us at his convenience so that we can show him our records pertaining to the transfer of the Owwa Medicare funds."

I have no need to visit your office at my convenience or inconvenience. I am absolutely certain your records will bear out the fact that you received the checks only last year. Accounting hat tricks are the easiest thing to do in this country. None of that supports your argument that, one, Owwa Medicare funds were not used for purposes other than what they were intended, which was health care for the OFWs, and, two, that they were in fact used to fund Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's election campaign. If anything in my contention is wrong, it is probably only the word "patent." The use of Owwa money by PhilHealth to campaign for Arroyo wasn't just patent, it was blatant.

The very proposal for the transfer of the funds was premised on it. The proof of it is quite literally in black and white. The proposal was made by Francisco Duque, then-president and CEO of PhilHeath, on Nov. 20, 2002. He said in a memo to Arroyo: "Respectfully submitted herewith for her Excellency's consideration is an Executive Order which shall effect the transfer of the Medicare functions and the health insurance funds from the
Owwa to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.. The rationale for the transfer is discussed at length in the attached Executive Brief."

That brief gets to the heart of the matter: "It is respectfully requested that the proposed executive order be approved by her Excellency before the year ends. The proposed transfer will have a significant bearing on 2004 elections . May I ask that we meet personally? My direct line is 09178132072 or 6181684."

I can only hope Duque hasn't yet changed numbers so the OFWs can tell him what they think of what he did.

LOL.