Over 200 stranded OFWs in UAE seek PH govt help

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates: A group of over 200 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the UAE, stranded in the past several weeks due to canceled flights bookings have sought help from Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin, Jr. to address their situation.

The group, UAE Stranded OFWs, has tagged Locsin in a tweet saying, “Considering our situation, hindi na po kaya. All our lines will be cut off, evicted na din po kami sa bahay nmin. Please help us.”

The OFWs’ original flights were scheduled for next month but have been canceled until further notice by the Philippine government.

 The group’s spokesperson, Georgia Nagaño Galimba, said there were many among their 208 members (and counting) who are now in dire straits and running on empty.

“Marami po kaming mga nakaka-usap na members namin sa group na kinakailangan nang umalis sa mga bahay nila, maka-cut na ang electricity, water and wifi. Higit sa lahat, wala na pong pang-gastos even sa food,” she said.

Galimba said that on average, flight bookings have been cancelled for up to three or  four times with update intervals for re-booking taking up to about a month.

“We’re asking po on behalf of all stranded OFWs here in UAE, na please accommodate us. Bigyan nyo po kami ng flights approval para sa aming airlines. A day of extended stay here costs lot. Hindi na po namin hiningi na tulungan kami financially, kami na po bumili ng sarili naming tickets, ang gusto lang po namin ay makauwi sa Pilipinas,” Galimba said.

Another member said there were expectant mothers and senior citizens among the stranded OFWs.

Sandy Gomez (not her real name), a member, said they have tried talking to the different agencies in the Philippines but we were allegedly only given the runaround.

She said they have tried appealing to the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi but to no avail as they were told that flight approvals was beyond their jurisdiction.

“Tinanong po namin ang Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), hindi daw po sa kanila, sa Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) daw po. Tinanong po namin sa DFA, sabi po ay sa embassy sa bansa, (na) ang sabi ay Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) naman daw po ang responsible,” Gomez said.

She said she and the group’s members booked tickets on their own, “kasi kung ia-asa lang po sa repatriation by Philippine Embassy or Consulate ay baka po sa 2021 na kami maka-uwi lahat.”

Priority

A ranking Foreign Affairs official said Philippine embassies in top OFW-destination countries like the UAE have been requesting CAAP, with help from the DFA home office in Manila, to grant more flight approvals for  Manila, Clark and other Philippine airports.

“Therefore, for the past weeks there have been a number of flights approved and the airlines are able to accommodate the rebookings of these cancelled flights,” the official said.

“Due to COVID, the allocation of number of allowed flights from all over the worlds is limited. But UAE is being given priority due to the requests of the embassy (there) and DFA. (But) still the backlog is huge,” the official added.

Galimba meantime said most of the bookings were made in May and first week of June.  

The Facebook group was formed on June 22, 2020  as a clearing platform for those waiting for updates about their bookings. The group and soon was listing 208 members two days later.   

Bookings were made with Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Emirates Airlines and Turkish Airlines with the bulk of the flights originally scheduled for July but have been cancelled until further notice from the Philippine government, organizers said.

“We formed the group so everyone can be calibrated on the information from the airlines because more often than not, they get different answers to the same questions (which only creates confusion). It also eases the mode of communication in cases where there were sudden changes like flight approvals,” Galimba said.

Domestic helps, sales employees, laborers and office administrative staff comprise the membership. Around 30% of the 208 were those terminated from work; 40% were those on no-work-no-pay arrangement; and the remaining 30% were worried about the state of the UAE’s economy, said Galimba.

She said they are concerned about bills. “Umaandar po ang mga bayarin, pero ang salary nag-stop. Magpapatong-patong lang po ang mga utang kapag magstay pa kami dito,” Galimba said.