(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola admitted in an exclusive interview that its P1-billion Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) fund under the General Appropriations Act of 2020 is “almost depleted” and that they are now drawing funds for ongoing and forthcoming repatriations from allocation under the “Bayanihan to Recover as One.”
“As of 28 December 2020, out of the ATN Fund under the GAA 2020 which is almost depleted, P598.7M was spent on repatriation alone. As we speak, we have utilized P217.4M for repatriation purposes out of the P820M allocation given through Bayanihan II,” Arriola said in a written response to queries sent by the Manila Bulletin.
Labor Attaché (Labatt) Nasser Mustafa
(Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh)
This came after an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) couple filed a complaint against Mustafa last year before the Philippine Embassy for acts of lasciviousness and sexual harassment that reportedly occurred in the morning of Feb. 13, 2020 inside the labor attache’s office in Riyadh when she was following up some job orders on behalf of her sponsor.
On Oct. 14, the couple directed the Philippine Embassy to seek assistance after sensing that their jobs were already at stake due to the alleged pressure being employed by Mustafa’s office against their employers and sponsors. But the labor attaché, in turn, charged the nationals with cyberlibel.
Published December 15, 2020, 3:55 PM
Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Adnan Alonto has directed the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh to continue to uphold the government’s One Country-Team Approach (OCTA) and refrain from posting “baseless, irresponsible and malicious” statements on its official social media accounts that undermine efforts to protect and promote the welfare of overseas Filipinos.
(POLO in Riyadh / MANILA BULLETIN)
“It has come to the attention of the Embassy that POLO used its official social media account (Facebook) to publish statements suggesting that the Embassy, (of) which the POLO is an integral part, and its officials are remiss (in the performance of) their duties and responsibilities as mandated by law,” Alonto said in a December 12, 2020 memorandum obtained by the Manila Bulletin.