By Marvin Sy
The Philippine Star 08/08/2006
The Commission on Audit (COA) has certified that P7.1 billion of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) funds are still intact, most of it held in two government banks.
In the second hearing conducted by the Senate on the evacuation efforts of the government for the Filipinos in Lebanon yesterday, OWWA resident auditor Gemiliano Maloles testified that as of June 30, 2006, P3.2 billion of the OWWA funds are in the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), another P3.2 billion in the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and P703 million in various banks.
The COA’s disclosure confirmed the earlier statement of OWWA administrator Marianito Roque during a press briefing at Malacañang that the funds are intact in the DBP and LBP.
The accounting of the OWWA funds was the primary issue of the Senate inquiry following reports that the money has been dissipated.
These allegations came about during the evacuation of Filipinos in Lebanon, which was criticized because of its slow pace and complaints from Ambassador Al Francis Bichara that no funds were being forwarded to the Philippine embassy in Lebanon.
What remained unclear was whether the funds could be used for the repatriation of all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon.
Sen. Ralph Recto said there is a legal issue involved because the funds came from contributions by documented Filipino workers — those that went through official channels of overseas employment such as the OWWA and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
With a significant number of Filipinos working in Lebanon being undocumented, there is a question whether OWWA funds could be used for their benefit.
"The OWWA has funds so why are they being so parsimonious in helping OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) now?" Sen. Joker Arroyo asked.
Maloles said the funds can be taken out of the banks at any time but this would be considered a pre-termination of the accounts and as such, the OWWA would not be able to get the full amount it expects.
Former OWWA administrator and current Commission on Human Rights commissioner Wilhelm Soriano cited his experience in the past when Filipinos had to be repatriated from the Middle East and Singapore.
He said the "triggering" term is "Filipinos in distress," so once OWWA receives a call from the concerned authority to assist all those affected, the agency immediately advances funds to the areas concerned to facilitate evacuation of Filipinos to locations where they could be repatriated to the Philippines.
| Stop Senate probe |
Malacañang, on the other hand, is seeking to stop the "ill-timed" Senate inquiry and instead called for cooperation to evacuate all Filipinos from Lebanon.
None of the six executive branch officials attended the hearing to which they were summoned. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the Senate committee failed to give them the list of proposed legislation to justify the inquiry. Under the Supreme Court ruling on Executive Order 464, the President or executive secretary may invoke executive privilege based on the advance questions and opt to allow officials to speak to Congress in an executive session.
Ermita said officials invited to the Senate hearing, particularly from the OWWA, were not allowed to attend and instead were told to make bare their records through various media.
He said the status of funds and how they were being disbursed could be reported directly to the people.
"We hope they will suspend (the investigation) until after the evacuation of the OFWs is done. We don’t want this to be an obstacle in the ongoing evacuation operations," Ermita said.
The Senate inquiry may be well-meaning but ill-timed, he said.
Ermita said it would be best to show unity during this time of crisis, which some senators also acknowledged.
Presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor said there was no point for government officials to politicize the issue of evacuation and pin down one another when many OFWs’ lives should be saved.
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, however, said since the power of Congress to hold inquiries in aid of legislation covers the formulation of future laws or a new legislative policy, under the Senate Rules of Procedure it is enough that the invited officials are given information on the subject of the hearing.
| Common ground |
Trying a new tack in its latest effort at reconciling with its critics, Malacañang invited the opposition yesterday to work with the administration on "common grounds," including the current evacuation crisis in Lebanon.
Defensor said the new approach is better than directly seeking immediate reconciliation with President Arroyo’s political opponents.
Among the common issues where both sides can work together are the ongoing crisis in Lebanon, the imminent eruption of Mt. Mayon in Albay, and the passage of urgent legislation in Congress, including the proposed P46-billion supplemental budget, he said.
"These are the common grounds where we can start helping each other with and I’m sure the opposition will welcome this, helping and supporting one another and hopefully from here, we can push the agenda of peace and reconciliation," Defensor said at the launch of the Kapihan ng Bayan forum in Quezon City.
He denied that the latest overture for reconciliation had something to do with the start of the committee deliberations on the impeachment complaints against Mrs. Arroyo.
He described the first step as a "confidence-building" measure wherein both sides agree on prioritizing the interests of the people.
"We can’t immediately talk about reconciliation but we’re sure there are policies of government that they (opposition) can support," Defensor said. "In the past, we’re doing something positive, the opposition remained silent or quiet but I hope now they can also be proactively supporting us in this effort."
Mrs. Arroyo in her State of the Nation Address last month said that her administration can easily confront its political opponents but she would rather that both sides work together for the country.
After it was established that the OWWA funds were intact, the Senate went on to ask how the funds were used in the past.
It has been reported that P530 million of OWWA funds were transferred to the government-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) just before the national elections in May 2004.
This became the basis for the filing of a plunder case against Mrs. Arroyo and a number of other officials involved in the Philhealth program.
The Arroyo administration was accused of using the Philhealth program to campaign for the candidacy of Mrs. Arroyo.
Recto defended the use of the OWWA funds for this purpose since the OFWs were provided with a better healthcare program than what they previously had and at a discounted premium rate.
Connie Regalado of Migrante, an organization focused on the interests of migrant workers, said that the transfer of OWWA funds to Philhealth was illegal because it is a trust fund and transfer was done without proper consultation with the migrant workers.
| OWWA funds used for project |
Another issue that came up during the inquiry was the P500 million investment made by OWWA in the Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project in 1995.
This use of the OWWA fund raised several questions because it was a project undertaken by the private sector.
Maloles disclosed that the OWWA disbursed P500 million for the project for investment in Smokey Mountain Project Participation Certificates (SMPPC).
OWWA said the transaction was aboveboard since the SMPPCs have been established as government securities by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.
According to OWWA, the certificates are insured and fully guaranteed by the Home Guaranty Corp. on its full par value of P500 million so in case of default or non-payment, HGC’s guarantee payment will be in the form of 3-year debenture bonds with an interest rate of 8.5 percent per annum tax-free.
Former OWWA administrator Soriano explained that the investment in the bonds was deemed "financially sound."
With the 8.5 percent interest rate carried by the SMPPCs, Maloles pointed out that OWWA’s P500-million initial investment ballooned to almost P1 billion.
Maloles said the principal amount was returned to the OWWA and only the accrued interest of close to P500 million remains unpaid by the HGC.
The Smokey Mountain project was a joint venture between the National Housing Authority as the landowner and the R-II Builders of businessman Reghis Romero as the developer.
It was one of the flagship projects of the government and carried three components — the provision of decent housing for Smokey Mountains residents; the clearing of the Smokey Mountain dumpsite and development of the 21.2 hectares land area into a residential and livelihood and commercial complex for the benefit of the area residents; and the reclamation of land from the adjoining Manila bay with an area of 79 hectares and its development into a residential, industrial and port-related business center.
Recto said that there is a gray area in the use of the OWWA funds for this project because it was for a "private purpose."
Senator Santiago urged the committee of Estrada to expand the scope of its inquiry to include the Smokey Mountain project, which she claimed was tainted with corruption.
She said she wants former President Fidel Ramos to be subpoenaed to testify on the issue because the project was initiated during his term.
Romero is also widely believed to have close connections with Ramos.
Estrada said he is open to expanding the scope of the inquiry to cover the Smokey Mountain project.
He also claimed that he has documents to prove that R-II Builders no longer has the capability to pay OWWA the P500 million in interest because it lost money on the project.
| Justify supplemental budget |
Senate President Manuel Villar said the Senate still has to scrutinize the P500-million supplemental budget recently passed by the House of Representatives to be used as standby fund for the repatriation of Filipinos stranded in Lebanon.
He added that the Palace should explain the need for this supplemental budget and ensure that the standby fund will be used for this purpose.
Sen. Franklin Drilon said the Senate will be briefed by Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya over the proposed supplemental budget.
"We will have a caucus on Wednesday at 1 p.m., where we have invited Secretary Andaya and the secretaries whose budgets will be increased by the supplemental budget to brief the senators," Drilon said.
"Subsequently, we will call a committee hearing the moment we receive the approved supplemental budget by the House. But pending receipt, we will have a briefing," he said.
The Senate has yet to receive the version approved by the House.
Drilon said the Senate would like to be assured by the national treasury that there is money available to support the supplemental budget and items included are part of "mandatory appropriations."
He said the Senate is likely to approve provisions on the internal revenue allotment, salary increase of firemen and jail guards, and teachers’ salaries.
| OFWs arrive by air, sea |
Another batch of 450 OFWs will arrive today on board an Orient Thai Airways flight chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
It will be the third flight chartered by IOM to help the Philippines evacuate its nationals from Lebanon since Israeli forces started bombing Beirut last month.
Before the war, OFWS — both documented and undocumented — working in Lebanon were pegged at 30,000. So far, the government has repatriated around 3,000 OFWs.
The Manila International Airport Authority has allotted two gates at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 arrival area to accommodate the large number of repatriated OFWs.
In a related development, Vice President Noli de Castro ordered yesterday the activation within this week of sea routes to evacuate Filipinos still in Lebanon.
The Philippine Coast Guard said it will use a five-day operation plan to evacuate OFWs by sea but this plan needs the cooperation of the Israeli military, which could grant safe passage for evacuees.
Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Coyme said the search and rescue ferries BRP Pampanga and BRP Batangas will leave the country tomorrow and arrive at Beirut port on Aug. 25.
He said the "most logical route in terms of safety and efficiency" is to use the ferries to shuttle the OFWs from Beirut port to Tartus port in Syria.
Coyme said with four hours’ travel time between the two ports and each ferry accommodating up to 1,000 passengers in a one-way trip, they could evacuate 6,000 Filipinos to Syria per day.
He said that apart from Tartus port, they are also keeping other options open: Limassol in Cyprus, Mirsin in Turkey, and Port Said in Egypt. From these ports, OFWs can be safely transported to the nearest airport.
After the Coast Guard completes its mission in Lebanon, which is expected to take 50 days, the ships could be utilized to ferry hundreds of undocumented Filipinos in Saudi Arabia waiting for deportation back to Manila.
Meanwhile, officials of Cebu Pacific Airways clarified they were still mulling over the possibility of sending the airline’s new Airbus A319 on a mercy mission to help repatriate OFWs in Lebanon.
The new aircraft, which seats 150 passengers, is about to be delivered to Manila this weekend from Hamburg, Germany.
Cebu Pacific corporate communications manager Marjorie Valiente said the plan, unilaterally announced by Malacañang yesterday, has not yet been given the go-signal by their top management.
She said that if they can secure the necessary permits and clearances, "then we will go ahead with the plan."
Philippine Airlines vice president for corporate communications Rolando Estabillo said PAL has sent two of its aircraft on government-chartered flights to repatriate OFWs and the airline is ready to accommodate future government requests to help bring OFWs back to Manila. — With Aurea Calica, Paolo Romero, Christina Mendez, Rainier Ronda, Mayen Jaymalin, Edu Punay, and Rainier Allan Ronda
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200608080401.htm
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