OFW HIT BY METAL STILL IN HIS HEAD
Villar: Where's medical help?

Nacionalista Party President Manny Villar urgently called for government assistance to save the life of an ailing Filipino migrant worker who was found to have a piece of metal lodged in his head after meeting an accident at work in Saudi Arabia.

Senator Villar said Quirino Sison, 50, a heavy equipment mechanic, is pleading for medical treatment in Saudi or in the Philippines after he was accidentally hit by a "broken bearing" recently which entered and stayed in his head, and causing him pain.

Sison, who called up from Al Gassim the helpline set up by Villar for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in distress, recounted with a breaking voice, "Sa pagtatrabaho ng aking kasamahan ay natalsikan ako ng basag na bearing at duguan akong dinala sa ospital kung saan ako ay na-x-ray lamang at natagpuan ang piraso ng metal sa ulo ko."

The OFW, who arrived in Saudi on March 3, yesterday said he stopped work two weeks ago due to severe headache and pain. "Sumasakit po ang ulo ko lalo na pag nakatingala ako na parang may tumutusok, at namamaga, dahilan upang hindi ako makatulog sa gabi," Sison lamented.

Villar not only assailed the lack of protection for workers in the workplace but also the failure to provide adequate medical attention following the work-related incident. "Bakit pinabayaan nang ganito ang ating OFW?" he asked, while calling on the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to look after the welfare of Sison and enable him to get medical benefit.

Harsh conditions faced by OFWs earlier pushed Villar to actively press for the application of the "no-fault insurance system" for OFWs, a form of indemnity plan in which anyone injured in an accident or misfortune receives direct payment from the company that has insured them, eliminating the need for victims to establish another's liability or fault through a civil case.

Likewise, the OFW's wife, Edna Sison who is in Binangonan, Rizal, said her husband is with 11 other OFWs in the same company which violated their contracts. "Pinapirma po sila ng bagong blangkong kontrata at hindi rin po tinupad iyong pinirmahan na nila. Sobra-sobra po ang oras ng kanilang trabaho. Ang lugar pong kanilang tinutuluyan ay mistulang basurahan," she reported.

The OFWs working with Sison are Maxwell Casio, Stephen Mendez, Joseph Quintana, Roy Maglalang, Mico Mamangun, Franklin Joyohoy, Daniel Villaflor, Giovani Mendoza, Abubakar Macabubat, Alexander Lango, and Arne Idonado.

Villar has filed Senate Bill 3040 or the "Overseas Contract Workers Insurance Act" which seeks compulsory insurance for all OFWs in addition to benefits being provided by OWWA.