WHILE WELCOMING VECINA CASE TRIUMPH:
Villar urges gov’t attention
for all OFWs in death row

SENATE President Manny Villar welcomed the grant of commutation of sentence to overseas Filipino worker (OFW) May Vecina by Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on July 8.

Villar cited that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Vice-President Noli de Castro personally appealed to the Emir for the commutation of sentence for Vecina, and deserve due credit.

“Government efforts should not cease until the best welfare of Vecina is attained,” he, however, emphasized.

"We look forward to the eventual freedom of Vecina and her reunification with her family in the country," the Senate President said.

Villar likewise emphasized that the government must give equal attention to other OFWs who are languishing in jails abroad and awaiting execution.

The Nacionalista Party president earlier filed Senate Resolution No. 421 urging the Senate to inquire into the status of OFWs in death row.

In his resolution, Villar cited, "The latest statistics indicate that there are 35 OFWs facing cases with capital punishment as penalty, including one in Brunei, two in China, one in the United States, four in Kuwait, nine in Saudi Arabia, and 10 in Malaysia."

Based on the Magna Carta for Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos (RA 8042), the Labor Code of the Philippines, treaties on international labor and human rights conventions of which the Philippines is a signatory, and the guarantees of the 1987 Constitution on labor, the government must extend full assistance to our distressed OFWs, the Senate President said.

We should avoid resorting to last-ditch efforts which compromise the safety and security of our OFWs, Villar underscored.

Tying up with Migrante International, Villar has launched OFW Helpline (0917-4226800) which aims to provide a channel by which distressed and endangered OFWs and their families can report their predicament.

Villar has sponsored the repatriation of a number of maltreated and underpaid Filipino workers in the Middle East, among who were minors. They met and made their plea to the Senate president during his visit to embassies abroad./PN