Letter to the Editor - January 9, 2005
References: Connie Bragas-Regalado, Chairperson
Contact Number: 259-1145
Vince Borneo, Information Officer - 0927-7968198

OEA-Malacanang out to divest OFWs with unpatriotic Makabayan bonds

The MIGRANTE Sectoral Party brands Malacanang's Office of External Affairs (OEA) as a scheming fiend out to hoodwink overseas Filipinos in the United States, Canada and Europe with its plan to sell Makabayan Investment Certificates.

The OEA is trying to railroad a hastily-crafted investment program that does not clearly specify how government shall raise its target US$100 million (at least P5.6 billion) from selling the Makabayan ICs. It is also silent on how the money raised from overseas Filipinos would be spent and safeguarded.

The fact that the Finance and Budget secretaries do not know of the plan shows that this is another devious money-making scheme that will divest overseas Filipinos of whatever finances they may have. This is callousness of the highest order.

Contrary to the OEA undersecretary Danilo Austria Consumido's claims of their 'being better organized,' the fact that the Departments of Finance and Budget and Management do not know of this devious plan shows that this investment scheme will not do OFWs and their families any good.

Consumido, who is also the chairman of the pro-Gloria campaign group Kaisahan ng Mamamayan Para sa Bayan (KAISAMBAYAN), fed the OEA statements on the Makabayan ICs recently.

Created by Malacañang just three months ago, the OEA is viewed by many sectors as a political payback scheme of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to those who supported her campaign. It would also merely duplicate the functions of the National Anti-Poverty Commission and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Malacanang should put a stop to this money-making scheme at the expense of OFWs and look into the safety of more than 6,000 Filipinos in Iraq. With the run-up to the US-backed elections on January 30, violence is steadily increasing in the war-torn nation. That should be a more pressing concern for government.

The MIGRANTE Sectoral Party will also lobby responsible Congress members to conduct an investigation into the very existence and operations of the OEA. This Malacanang creation is only a waste of meager government resources and only bodes ill to our compatriots abroad, their families and the people. #