‘Ang bangkong iyan ay itinayo para sa mga OFWs. Nararapat lamang na ang kukontrol nyan at magpapalakad ay mga OFWs!’
DUBAI: The much-ballyhooed Overseas Filipino Bank (OFB) only has one seat for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on its nine-member board of directors and workingclass Filipinos around the world are disappointed, to say the least.
This at hand, an international group of OFWs, representing some 65 organizations from various countries, is spearheading efforts to urge President Duterte to add more seats for OFWs on the bank’s board to ensure that the labor sector’s rights and welfare are upheld and protected.
The group, calling itself the 1st OFW Global Summit, said that as it stands, allowing only one seat for OFWs on the board is disturbing considering that the bank was formed for them.
“Ang banko na iyan ay ipinatayo para sa mga OFWs,” Engr. Yusoph Admain, chairman of the group told The Filipino Times in an interview from Manila, “nararapat lamang na ang magkokontrol nyan at magpapalakad ay mga OFWs!” (That bank was created for OFWs. Ergo, it is only appropriate that OFWs control and operate it.)
“Tayo pa rin ay nagpapasalamat sa mahal na pangulo na minadali na ipatayo ‘yan although hindi tayo 100% satisfied dahil may kulang pa. Isang seat lang sa board is unfair. Hihimay-himayin natin para mapasa-atin yang OFW bank,” Admain added. (We are thankful to our beloved president who expedited the creation of the bank, but we are not 100% satisfied as there is still something lacking. Only one seat for OFWs on the board is unfair. We will look into this and see how this bank can be ours.)
Admain said they have started their advocacy campaign regarding the issie, having held meetings with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief, Hans Leo Cacdac to explore solutions.
Admain, who also chairs the non-governmental organization, OFW Migrant Policy Institute for Development, said they will likewise lobby the House of Representatives and Philippine Senate on their call for additional OFW seats on the board.
According to him the 1st OFW Global Summit convened in Taguig, Metro Manila on Jan. 7 this year attended by 250 leaders of 65 OFWs organizations and Filipino community leaders from the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and other countries to iron out a plan of action.
No consultation done
Among participants of the convention was Agnes Tibor, an OFW from Dubai working as assistant manager for logistics and banking at a trading company, who told The Filipino Times that a petition-signing is under consideration.
Tibor, who represented The Filipino Patriotikos Dubai at the summit, noted that what was actually created was an OF Bank which includes migrant Filipinos overseas and is not solely for OFWs which was what had been promised at the president’s campaign trail.
She said the OFB will function as a lending company with other services that regular banks offer, not as a workers’ cooperative as was envisioned by President Duterte.
“What is the essence really of putting up an OF bank if OFWs could not be partakers?” Tibor said, stressing that having OFWs as shareholders was lost in the process of opening the bank.
“Yun ang nawawala sa creation nung banko,” she said. (That is what’s missing in the creation of the bank.)
She said with about 2.5 million OFWs around the world putting in a minimum of $25, the OFW bank could easily have at least $6.2 billion in seed money to run an OFW cooperative.
“Kinonbert lang ang Postal Bank into an OF bank and subsidized by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP),” Tibor said. (What government merely did was convert Postal Bank into an OF bank subsidized by Land Bank.)
Petition
Which is why, Tibor said, a move is being considered by the group to petition the government to appoint OFWs or former OFWs to the board so that they could share their experience and wisdom in shaping the bank.
Tibor said plans are afoot for The Filipinos Patriotikos Dubai to meet with Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes and Labor Attaché Felicidad Bay in the coming days to explore ways on how disseminate the ongoing discussions about having more OFW seats on the bank’s board ahead of a scheduled visit by Land Bank representatives in April.
Composition
Executive Order 44 signed by President Duterte last Sept. 28 creating the OFB, requires a nine-member board of directors with the following composition: The president Land Bank of the Philippines as chair; an LBP-designated OFW as vice chair; four LBP-designated directors or officers as members; a member representing the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); a member representing OWWA; and a private sector member representing overseas Filipinos.
Bello said he has directed Cacdac to be OWWA’s representative to the board.
