Overseas Filipinos in Hong Kong (HK) urged the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to swiftly investigate a former administrator’s alleged plunder of Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) funds, saying those resources should be spent on their protection and not on corruption.
The United Filipinos (UniFil)-Migrante HK said it supports the dismissal of former OWWA administrator Arnaldo “Arnell” Ignacio for reportedly spending PhP1.4 billion in an unauthorized procurement of a land property.
“The OWWA should conduct a full audit to show where those funds went. All those involved must be made accountable and sent to jail,” Unifil-Migrante HK said.
DMW secretary Hans Leo Cacdac on Friday announced Ignacio’s dismissal for “loss of trust and confidence,” citing Ignacio’s “anomalous” P1.4 billion land acquisition deal that the former showbiz personality kept hidden from the OWWA Board of Trustees.
“He did not… inform the Board on at least six counts, on six matters, surrounding the P1.4 land acquisition deal,” Cacdac told GMA News Online.
The land acquisition deal entered into last September was supposed to be for the accommodation of overseas Filipino workers.
Cacdac said the acquisition was unnecessary.
Ignacio reportedly claimed he voluntarily resigned from his post, citing fatigue and stress as reasons for leaving.
He later told reporters in a phone interview he would address the matter in a proper forum, declining to provide further comment.
Unifil-Migrante HK however said the billion peso deal entered into by Ignacio was not the first time he spent OWWA funds carelessly.
The group said Ignacio also rented an entire floor of a building in the Chinese territory for HK$6 million to serve as an OFW Global Center.
The overseas Filipinos said the expenditure was unjustified as they experienced difficulties in their requests for direct assistance to compatriots stranded in wars abroad.
Ignacio also displayed arrogance against OFWs who sought his agency’s help, they complained.
They added that Ignacio habitually blamed overseas Filipinos who found themselves in difficult situations, also repeatedly harping about their so-called debt of gratitude to the Philippine government for whatever assistance they received from OWWA.
“May this serve as warning to other OWWA and DMW officials who do not serve and look after their personal interests first,” Unifil-Migrante HK concluded. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
