“The DFA and this government are only good and fast at whitewashing their inutility to save the lives of OFWs. With the case of the Sabah 15, they should just stop the cover up and do their job of really assisting the workers.”

This was declared today by Gi Estrada, program coordinator of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) following claims by the Department of Foreign Affairs that they have been providing assistance to 15 Filipino workers victimized by bonded labor at the palm oil plantation See Hoy Chan Company in Lahad Datu, Sabah.

“It is contemptible for the DFA to convolute the facts and vilify APMM and Gabriela Women’s Party for exposing the dire situation of the starving and exploited workers. They were never there, they never took into account the concerns of the workers, and they never lifted a finger until their office was under public fire. It’s a barefaced lie for the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia to say that they’ve been helping the OFWs from the start,” he remarked.

Estrada belied the DFA’s claim of assistance to the workers. According to him, APMM first faxed and emailed the complaints of the OFWs to the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on April 29 which the Embassy did not acknowledge. (It is attached for your perusal)

On May 24, the workers informed APMM that Mr. Gangco T. Punguinaguina, Consular assistant in-charge of ATN, had contacted them by phone and told them that they would be reported to Malaysian immigration and police officials and would be sent home. Punguinaguina also told the workers that they should take care of their airfare and discounted penalty fee for those who have no work permits and were considered as overstayers.

Estrada reported that he personally called up Mr. Punguinaguina who said that the OFW’s cannot file

a labor case because the OFW’s did not pass through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). That is the reason why Butch Pastolero, one of the complaining workers, was reluctant to provide the ATN official the numbers of the company management because they wanted the company to compensate them properly for their work.

“We talked directly to the workers during the Fact-Finding Mission we conducted with other groups like Gabriela from June 11 to 16 to ascertain their condition – something the Philippine Embassy never did. No negotiation was ever conducted by the company with the workers, Ambassador Lecaros never talked to the distressed workers, and the touted presence of Philippine consular officials in Sandakan and Sarawak – which is still a plane ride away from Lahad Datu – never did anything,” he relayed.

Additionally, Estrada hit the DFA for even defending the exploitative practice of the said company. The DFA’s press statement yesterday claimed that the workers have an employment contract that stipulates that their wages would be from RM800 (P10,902) to RM1,000 (P13,627) per month based on their individual output. But they were paid less allegedly because they were not able to reach the quota set by the company.

Based on the worker’s account to APMM, the highest that any one of them got was RM500 (P6,814). But this was deducted by RM125 (P1703) for the levy and work permit and a further minimum of RM200 (P2725) for the food and other supplies that they loaned from the company run-store. In effect, their take home pay was only RM175 (P2,385). There were times that they were paid only RM100 to RM300 a month which meant that their debt was greater than their wages.

“Isn’t this bonded labour that even international laws prohibit? Instead of sounding like the spokesperson of the company, should not the DFA and Embassy assist in claiming the wage arrears of the workers? Undocumented or not, it is the foremost responsibility of the Philippine government to help any distressed overseas Filipino,” he added.

Estrada said that they will closely monitor the promise of the DFA and the Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to go to the plantation this Thursday to take the workers. He also added that Philippine officials promised that nobody will be detained by Malaysian Immigration and police officials and that they would take care of all their expenses up to Iloilo.

“It is not enough to just send them home as if no crime against the OFW’s were done against them by their employer and by their illegal recruiter. The government should assist the workers in getting the justice and compensation from the recruiter and from the employer that the OFWs rightfully deserve,” he concluded.