High-level team formed to assist Filipinos in conflict areas abroad
April 11, 2011
MANILA – President Benigno Aquino III has created a high-level team to strengthen the government’s response mechanism for overseas Filipino workers (OFW) needing help during political conflict and natural disasters.
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Aquino said President Aquino signed Executive Order (EO) No. 34 on April 6 to help concerned agencies address the plight of OFWs caught in crises abroad.
“Natural disasters, civil unrest, armed conflicts and similar crises in foreign countries expose overseas Filipinos to immediate hazards and risks,” Ochoa said.
EO 34 establishes the Overseas Preparedness and Response Team (OPRT) under the Office of the President (OP) and replaces the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee (PMEPC), which was created under EO NO. 159 in 2002 to deal with the evacuation of thousands of Filipino workers in the Middle East at the height of the Iraq crisis.
The recent natural disasters that struck Japan and New Zealand and the political unrest in countries in the Middle East and North Africa prompted the government to expand the scope of the PMEPC and integrate agency policy plans for swift government response.
The OPRT is composed of the Executive Secretary as chairperson and the presidential adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers’ Concerns and secretaries of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), Department of National Defense (DND), Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as members.
The high-level crisis team is tasked to draw up strategies and programs and formulate policies to appropriately respond to crises affecting Filipinos abroad.
It shall develop and adopt interactive operating arrangements among agencies to effect maximum coordination.
It may call upon any department or agency of the government or private sectors and coordinate or seek bilateral and multilateral partners for assistance in the formulation and implementation of plans, programs and policies.
“There is a necessity for various government agencies that take the lead in addressing the concerns of overseas Filipinos to focus on their real and actual capabilities in the efficient and effective delivery of services and resources to the overseas Filipinos workers, thereby insuring their safety and security especially in times of crisis,” the EO stated.
The OPRT will also establish a pool of crisis management and technical experts and trained personnel from the OPRT member-agencies to form rapid reaction teams, which shall then be deployed to crisis-hit areas where there are significant concentration of Filipinos, upon the authorization of the panel.
The panel will also conduct periodic review and assessment to update individual contingency plans submitted by the Philippine embassies and consulates general for proper policy and operational guidance, as well as undertake threat and environmental scanning, to ensure the safety and protection of Filipinos abroad.
The OPRT is further tasked to formulate and review contingency plans for the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Pacific, the Americas, and Europe every six months.
Additional personnel to reinforce Philippine foreign missions may be dispatched upon the permission of the OPRT for the duration of at least three months to ensure systematic repatriation and relocation activities, among others, the EO said.
Aside from putting in place a monitoring mechanism to regularly gather and update information on the identities and locations of Filipinos in crisis-prone regions, the OPRT will also prepare a comprehensive communication plan to inform the public of the actions taken by the government. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/04/11/high-level-team-formed-assist-filipinos-conflict-areas-abroad-149740
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