{"id":5587,"date":"2012-07-25T16:38:45","date_gmt":"2012-07-25T13:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/patnubay.org\/?p=5587"},"modified":"2019-06-22T10:05:22","modified_gmt":"2019-06-22T07:05:22","slug":"ofws-in-middle-east-disappointed-with-pnoys-sona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/?p=5587","title":{"rendered":"OFWs in Middle East disappointed with PNoy’s SONA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Image Source: http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OFWVOICE<\/p><\/div>\n

by Maxxy Santiago<\/strong>,\u00a0ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau
\nPosted at 07\/24\/2012 5:41 PM\u00a0in\u00a0abs-cbnnews.com<\/a><\/p>\n

KUWAIT \u2013 Filipinos in the Middle East felt disappointed after President Benigno Aquino III failed to mention anything concrete for overseas Filipino workers during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoon po sa SONA ng ating pangulo, medyo nakakasama lang po ng loob hindi man lang po nabanggit tayong mga OFW. Sa dinami-dami ng contribution natin dapat pagtuunan naman nila ng pansin ang OFW dahil nagsasakripisyo kami dito,\u201d said Maricel Lucas.<\/p>\n

Lucas works as a seamstress in a big tailoring shop in Farwaniya, Kuwait which is owned by a Filipina.<\/p>\n

Others believe that there\u2019s a lot of work that still needs to be done by Aquino\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

\u201cPara sa akin, medyo kulang pa ang improvement. Dahil siguro kung improve na yong Pilipinas hindi na natin kailangang pumunta pa ng ibang bansa para magtrabaho,\u201d said Jonan Bacanto.<\/p>\n

Some, however, did not agree with what Aquino have said regarding the improving economy of the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalang pagbabago. Bakit? Dati ang palitan ng KD1 ay P196, ngayon P146 na lang, anong pagbabago doon? Ang Pilipino naghihirap pa rin. Marami pa rin umaalis galing sa bansa natin bilang katulong. Dito sa Kuwait, maraming naghhihirap na domestic helpers. Iyon lang ang masasabi ko para sa presidente natin,\u201d said Anisa Al-Attar, owner of Lovely Fashion.<\/p>\n

In Saudi Arabia, Pinoys had hoped that Aquino would mention the issue raised by Filipinos abroad regarding the increase in the premium of PhilHealth for OFWs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOk naman sana ang pinagsasabi niya, ang developments na nangyayari sa ating bansa. Sana ay pakinggan niya rin ang hinaing ng mga OFW laban sa PhilHealth. Medyo dismayado kami sa part na yun at hindi man lang nasabi o nasambit yung tungkol sa hinaing ng mga OFW laban sa PhilHealth,\u201d said Jebee \u201cKenji\u201d Solis, founding chairman of the Pinoy Expat\/OFW Blog Awards (PEBA).<\/p>\n

Solis added that the president even failed to give credit to the millions of OFWs whose remittances continuously keep the Philippine economy afloat.<\/p>\n

\u201cNabanggit lang niya ang PhilHealth insurance locally, pero wala sa OFW,\u201d said Riyadh-based graphic designer, Lito Quindara.<\/p>\n

In Muscat, Oman, Filipinos were divided over the President\u2019s SONA.<\/p>\n

\u201cDito sa ikatlong SONA ay natutuwa ako dahil malaki ang pagbabago. Inisa-isa ngayon ni President PNoy ang mga pagbabago at nasaksihan ko rin dahil halos araw-araw nanonood tayo ng pagbabago kung ano ang nangyayari sa\u00a0 kapaligiran dito sa Pilipinas,\u201d said Sandy Tanagras, president of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers.<\/p>\n

For engineer Salvador Verdejo, President Aquino was able to successfully deliver his SONA to the public, but felt shortchanged.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaganda ang pagka-deliver. Naiparating niya sa mga tao kung ano ang nangyari sa ating bayan nung nakaraang taon. Medyo bitin lang kasi inaabangan ko yung tungkol sa OFW. Bilang OFW gusto kung marinig yung kapakanan ng OFW. Malaki ang tulong ng OFW sa ating bansa kung hindi dahil sa OFW sa ating bansa down ang economy natin. Sana na-mention niya kung gaano ka importante ang OFW sa ating bansa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Doha, Qatar, many believe that Aquino is making slow, but sure progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cDahan-dahan niyang ginagampanan ang kanyang mga binitawang salita noong kanyang una SONA. Bilang OFW, ang concern lang natin marahil ay ang kaligtasan ng ating mga pamilya na naiwanan natin sa Pilipinas,\u201d said port officer Henry Desiderio of the Qatar Shipping Company.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMedyo doon lang ako sumasalungat sa kanyang sinabi na nag-iimprove ang peace and order situation samantala ang daming mga balita na dumarating sa atin dito na dala ng TFC, ng ibang media at ng internet din na pa-grabe nang pa-grabe ang crime rate sa Pilipinas,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Maxxy Santiago,\u00a0ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau Posted at 07\/24\/2012 5:41 PM\u00a0in\u00a0abs-cbnnews.com KUWAIT \u2013 Filipinos in the Middle East felt disappointed after President Benigno Aquino III failed to mention anything concrete for overseas Filipino workers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":2185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[177,226],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5587"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12227,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5587\/revisions\/12227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patnubay.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}