The Filipino community has been coming together to the aid of runaway domestic helps, the number of which has swelled to over 100 in the past days, said Atty. Felicitas Bay, labor attaché of the Philippine mission to Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
“Meron tayong mga kababayan na mapagkawanggawa. Meron din mga taga-simbahan,” Bay told The Filipino Times in a phone interview, adding that a group of Filipino medical practitioners conducts field work at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office – Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA) every second Friday.
She said that just recently two FilClub organizations held an event at POLO-OWWA during which they handed out to return plane tickets to the wards.
As of July 15, Bay said POLO-OWWA has around 120 wards of which only seven actually have pending labor cases, the rest were runaway house helps on visit visas a number of whom arrived in Dubai via Hong Kong and Singapore, Bay said.
“They were not prepared for the job. They didn’t undergo the required Pre-departure Orientation Seminar (because they left the Philippines as tourists). There was even one whi arrived pregnant,” Bay said.
The labor attaché, who has years of experience in the field, lamented that attending to runaways at POLO-OWWA has become a “cycle.”
“May paalis, may parating. Tatawag sa amin, nakasakay na ng taksi. Siyempre, you have to welcome them. Mga kababayan sila (Some leave, others come in. They will call us already on their way riding a taxi. Of course, you have to welcome them. They’re compatriots ),” Bay said.
If it’s any consolation, the official takes comfort in the fact that the runaways know where to go for solace and help. “My view of things is that they’re here, nagkaproblema sila, they seek our assistance. They know there’s a government that’s going to help them. There is something good in the wrong,” Bay said.
The downside is that it stretches her staff thin, with only one welfare officer attending to the wards’ needs, assisted by other POLO-OWWA employees.
Bay said the number of runaways was at around 60 back in March this year. “Bumababa naman ang bilang. There was a time when we had 82,” she said.
