SENATOR CHIZ ESCUDERO (CHIZ): Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Majority Leader. With the permission of the distinguished sponsor, I only have one question and one topic to ask, Madam President, your Honor. Sa ngayon po ba, ilan ang mga Pilipino na nagtatrabaho sa ibang bansa na nakakulong sa iba’t ibang mga piitan sa buong mundo?
SENATOR JV EJERCITO (JVE): Your Honor, since Usec. Cacdac assumed in July of 2023 total is about 1,254 currently incarcerated broken down as follows: Asia Pacific: 293, Europe: 7, Middle East: 954, your Honor, Madam President.
CHIZ: Your Honor, when there was a Spanish national convicted in the Philippines for allegedly killing someone in Cebu, and the very first thing that Spain did was to try to negotiate and enter into a treaty with the Philippines with respect to prisoner exchange. We now have such a treaty between the Philippines and Spain that was with respect to one Spanish national.
Given that we have so many Mr. President, your Honor, OFWs whose victim may be a fellow Filipino, sometimes working abroad, or a foreign national. Wouldn’t be an opportune time or perhaps a year ago, a decade ago for the Philippines to have been doing this similar thing. It would be a different matter for us to succeed to get that treaty, Mr. President, your Honor. But at the very least we should pursue it and aspire to it so that we can establish at least in those countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asian where we have a huge number of Filipinos. Ang pagkakaiba po kasi at least may ginawa man siyang mali, hindi naman natin papalayain dito pero may pagkakataong dito niya pagsilbihan sa Pilipinas ‘yung kanyang sintensya para mas malapit-lapit naman na mabisita siya ng kanyang mga kamag-anak kada-Pasko man o kada-birthday o kung gaano nila kadalas kakayaning gawin.
Mr. President, your Honor, the fact is if an Overseas Filipino Worker is convicted, let’s say to suffer the penalty of 30 years’ incarceration in Saudi Arabia for example and the family is poor, the next time they see each other Mr. President will be 30 years after already because I doubt if the family can visit him every year and spend that much to travel. They are not even sure if they can see him whenever they visit that place.
So, Mr. President, Your Honor, I think in the spirit of giving second chances and enabling our Filipino compatriots who have been convicted on a foreign land justly or unjustly, for this to be pursued through the DMW and through the Department of Foreign Affairs, I asked this during the previews budget deliberations with the late former Sec. Ople who committed to do this Mr. President, Your Honor, that’s why I’m asking it again. May I know what has been done if any and what the current leadership of the DMW will be doing in pursuit of this issue and in pursuit of this interest of ours?
JVE: Your Honor, Madam President, according to Usec. Cacdac, they have already started talking to DOJ and DFA and they are prioritizing who are in the death row cases, so they are now coordinating with both agencies, your Honor.
CHIZ: Mr. President, your Honor, death row cases hindi naman natin puwedeng ilipat dito wala naman tayong parusang kamatayan para dito ipatupad ‘yung parusang kamatayan that is a totally separate issue if a toll because that would pertain to either payment of the blood money or providing legal efforts.
I’m talking about those who are incarcerated either as detention prisoners or those convicted by final judgment. We can start with those convicted by final judgment already. Again, Mr. President, your Honor, succeeding is a totally different matter from us trying to achieve this. We may succeed in some countries, we may fail in some, but at least the Filipinos see that the department is working in this direction. It may take 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, or even 10 years but at least that should be a direction that we should be taking, in order to protect the interest of our Filipino workers abroad numbering roughly 10 million if I’m not mistaken based on the last count I saw.
Again, if you look back one Spanish national, they fought for that treaty and they got it. It took them about 2 to 3 years before the Senate ratified it from the time they started. It might take us that same period of time, we might succeed in some, we might fail in some but at least we should continue trying.
JVE: Yes, your Honor, Madam President that’s a very welcome that we are looking into the flight of all of our OFWs who are incarcerated. As a matter of fact, the Senate, these past years has increased the legal assistance fund so that our OFWs, our modern heroes would feel that the government is there to assist them in times that they are distressed. And likewise, according to Usec. Cacdac and the DMW family we have already improved the legal assistance and there are about 80 legal retainers worldwide and we have greater access now to host country institutions at present. So—
CHIZ: —Thank you, Mr. President, your Honor I will be bringing this point up again in the next budget deliberation for the budget of 2025. One last point Mr. President, I know we increased the funds even in previous years when I was Finance Committee Chair with respect to the legal assistance fund but as of now does the legal assistance fund include the payment of blood money as a policy on the part of DMW?
JVE: Right now, your Honor, no, it’s not included.
CHIZ: May I ask why Mr. President, Your Honor and what means to be done is it simply including a special provision to increase the mandate of the assistance fund for the payment imbes na ibayad mo sa abogado kung ‘yon naman ang rules nila kailangan pa rin magbayad ng blood money,bakit hindi na lang isama natin ‘yong pagbabayad ng blood money?
JVE: Your Honor according to Usec. Cacdac that the blood money usually goes to the private expenses of, the private rights of the family your Honor.
CHIZ: I know that Mr. President, your Honor but we are assisting migrant workers and clearly that’s why they left the Philippines and try their fortunes abroad because they don’t have enough money to pay for that. Kaysa kada mayroong ganoon na may pagkakataon tayong iligtas sana sa parusang kamatayan ang sinumang Pilipinong nagkamali sa ibang bansa magsu-solicit pa tayo sa mga mayayamang Pilipino ‘pag may problema na.
JVE: Your Honor, probably we can legislate it or discuss it with DFA on how we will be able to make it possible so that tama po kayo na kaysa mapunta pa sa mga abogado at least ma-diretso na po natin.
CHIZ: Mr. President, your Honor, in the proper time this representation will propose corresponding amendments to the budget of the DWM because I want to lodge it there and not in the DFA, and since the GAA is a law itself outlining the reasons and basis for spending whatever appropriations we allocate to that department then that can suffice as the legal basis in order to spend this. That is after all COA is looking for whenever they check the expenditure of a particular department. So, by broadening the menu of the legal assistance fund perhaps this can done and we can try to do this via this avenue without need of passing a totally new piece of legislation.
JVE: Thank you. That’s a very welcome development, Madam President, your Honor that if the legal assistance fund becomes a line item it will be easier for them to be able to dispose and it can be utilized easier by our distressed OFWs, your Honor.
CHIZ: Thank you for your support, Mr. President. Madam President, your Honor at a proper time we will introduce that amendment. Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, Majority Leader Thank you, distinguished Sponsor and I’d like to thank the DMW family.
SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA: Thank you, Senator Escudero.