EMERGENCY HELP & INFO FOR PHILIPPINE OFWs

Below is a list of contact telephone numbers and email addresses for emergency support for OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers). I think it should be mandatory to provide each OFW a small handbook containing hotline numbers and other information for obtaining support in case of an emergency. Ensuring an open communication line with each OFW (especially with loved ones at home!) is the least the government of the Philippines can do for these unsung heroes of the Philippine economy.

Philippine Embassies and Consulates General abroad (from the website of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs)

Philippine Mission in Saudi Arabia Emergency Numbers . This information is from Bong Amora's blog Overseas Filipino Workers Empowerment
Also go to: 24-hour hotlines for OFWs in Saudi Arabia 

Migrante - Middle East Regional Coordinator (John Leonard Monterona)
Mobile Phone Number: 00974 33 20 5565 (info taken from here as of June 2012)

Migrante Hotline Number (Jebel Ali, Dubai): +971552202558   
Migrante Hotline Number (Quezon City, Philippines): (63921) 2709079

Migrante International.  Migrante Middle East. Migrante United Arab Emirates. Links to Other Migrante Organizations


24/7 Operation Center of OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration)
  OFWs may contact OP Center officers through the following:
   HOTLINE # 833-6992/551-1560;  
   MOBILE # 0917-8986992;  
   FAX # 804-0638
   E-MAIL ADDRESS owwa_opcenter@yahoo.com

Call 1343 Action Line in Manila ( 02 1343 in the Province) or Report Online for cases of human trafficking, local and international (Info from the Philippine's Commission on Filipino Overseas).

More will be added to the list above soon. Suggestions are very welcome. Does anybody know whether OWWA, POEA, DOLE or any government office provide a list of hotline numbers to OFWs?

Too many Filipina OFWs are treated as Slaves! Documenting abuses against Domestic Workers

Here are a few weblinks that can educate us all on the plight of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers).

Jessica: Saudi Slave (Part 1 of 5; other parts easily found in YouTube)
Visayan Forum
Sumapi
Walk Free

Human Rights Watch Reports:  Slow Reform (2010), Abuses against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia (2008), Domestic Plight in Jordan (2011), 

Let us all think and try how we can end modern-day slavery.

Encounters with Filipina OFWs in the Middle East (Part 1)

It happened twice at the end of December last year, in two airports in the middle east - first in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and second in Doha (Qatar). I was flying back to Washington DC.

My flight from Dubai to Doha was leaving late in the afternoon. In a queue to get my boarding pass, the young lady behind me makes a deliberate eye contact and a nice smile. She is hauling a huge luggage and her hands are full of pasalubong (probably late Christmas gifts to family at home). I was sure she is Filipina, and was also sure she's eager to chat. (We, Filipinos, can spot a kabayan (compatriot) easily and, like it or not, once introduced to each other, the assumption of familiarity and friendship is a given). She called me kuya (older brother) right away. She seems genuinely delighted to have met a familiar face in a foreign land. She was bubbly at first, but just a few minutes into our conversation her eyes began to well up.

She was driven to the airport by a member of an Emirati family who employed her as a domestic helper. She was given about an hour to pack her luggage; her passport, airline tickets and other travel documents were only 'released' to her when they arrived at the airport. She didn't have anything to eat that day. She wasn't paid her last salary, and probably would have waited for the food served in the plane rather than spend whatever money she had. But that food is at least 2 hours away.


I was hungry myself, so I invited her for a light meal. I also gave her a couple of twenty american dollars in case she needs money to buy food at the next airport (she has many hours of layover in Doha before her last flight to Manila). I pretty much know the story at this point - having read enough horror stories of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) from the Philippines - or so, I thought. Reality does hit you when the victim herself tells you the story in her own words. It is because of her that I am starting this blog. I don't want to forget her story and how I felt listening to them.

She worked as a hair stylist in a salon in Doha a few years ago, but her contract was not renewed and had to return to the Philippines. She was able to save money for her own young family in Manila - but the money didn't last long and, encouraged by her pleasant experience in Doha, she didn't hesitate to find work again in the middle east and leave her young daughter and husband for the second time. This time, however, she ran into an unscrupulous recruiting agency in Manila.... (to be continued..see part 2)