The Manila Times Internet Edition | OPINION >OWWA’s deficiencies

The Manila Times Internet Edition | OPINION >OWWA’s deficiencies: "Has OWWA really performed to the best of its well-paid officials’ and personnel’s abilities? Has that attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) satisfactorily done what the law requires it to do, and done what plain respect for the dignity of fellow Filipinos demands it should do for our OFWs and their dependents?

Unfortunately, the answer that must be given is NO.

For OWWA to do its job well is especially vital now in times of the OFWs’ great distress amid the global economic meltdown.

One OWWA failing that must immediately be brought up is the inadequacy of the help it gives OFWs in jail, many of them jailed unjustly. Many OFWs have been victimized by their employers. Some of them are victims of rape by the employers and fired when they protested or, worse, accused of crimes they did not commit."