POEA's illegal withdrawal from OWWA, perks are detrimental to OFWs

What the high bureaucrats of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) shower on themselves is ultimately shameless.

Like we have suspected all along, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's coterie of POEA officials have been living the high life. The painful thing for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is: these officials have heaped upon themselves so many unnecessary perks even from our own funds at the OWWA.

The POEA's illegal withdrawal of P24.048 million from the OFW trust funds at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to grant an "incentive allowance" to agency's high bureaucrats does not in any way help OFWs and their families. The Commission on Audit has said that such use of OWWA funds is unauthorized, also calling the total grant of about P40 million in incentives and allowances to its officials for the past three years.

They have the gall to do this because Pres. Arroyo dispenses perks in this way too.

POEA executives were issued mobile phones and they downloaded about P796,000 worth of games, ring tones, picture messages and other unauthorized items. The POEA incurred other charges amounting to P308,747.58 in the use of the mobile phones, in addition to the fixed charges of P400,002.80 due to subscription to Globe lines or plans.

Other charges which are personal and which are easily incurred and billed due to the nature of line subscription, include share-a-load and its processing fee, GPRS such as Globe games, photo messages, polyphonic ringtones, digital postcards, photo album, cinema and magazine covers, premium java download, instant messaging and catxtcism, etc., All these did not in any way help OFWs. It is clear wastage of meager government resources and OFW funds.

It is also revolting to note that even the OWWA Board of Trustees justified the illegal incentive allowance by citing the increase in OWWA collections from OFWs. The US$25 contribution from each OFW should only be devoted to welfare programs to OFWs and their dependents. The incentives and perks of government officials and employees must come from the national budget, not from OFW contributions at the OWWA. We encourage rank and file employees of the POEA to question the agency's high officials on their illegal deeds.

The current administration continues to siphon out OFW funds at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). After illegally transferring funds from OWWA to PhilHealth, Land Bank, Development Bank of the Philippines and the National Livelihood Support Fund, now comes the expose on the illegal transfer to the POEA.

We call on Congress to immediately investigate high officials of the POEA and appropriately prosecuted for their evil deeds. #