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Senator Gatchalian: Improving legal aid 'biggest concern' for OFWs

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Rachel Salinel, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau

DUBAI — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said more legal assistance is needed when asked about the major issues affecting more than 600,000 documented Filipinos in the UAE.The senator recently met with Filipino community leaders and journalists in an event organized by the Philippine consulate general in Dubai and Northern Emirates.&quot;The biggest concern is the legal support given to our kababayans not only in Dubai, but in general,&quot; Gatchalian said.&quot;Kulang yung support na ibinibigay natin sa legal. Pag-aaralan natin kung kulang ba sa structure or sa budget, kulang o di na aangkop sa dami ng OFWs.&quot;(The legal support we&#x27;re giving Filipinos is not sufficient. We&#x27;ll look into whether this is a structure issue or a budget issue, whether they lack support or the support we&#x27;re giving them isn&#x27;t relevant anymore given their current number.)Most Filipinos who have legal cases are those with bank loans and credit card debts.This highlights the common problems by overseas Filipinos not only in the UAE but also in the gulf region. Besides debt, there are cases involving drunkenness, immorality, illegal recruitment and improper documents. This was raised in previous years by former Philippine ambassador to the UAE, Grace Relucio Princesa.Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes said: &quot;I appreciated the senator having the candor to listen and discern on a national scale what is best for our overseas Filipinos and what systems could be best adopted to make our services more effective.&quot;Cortes said legal aid was one of the issues discussed with the senator.&quot;We have not had any issues or problems with the disbursement of our legal assistance fund or LAF since (the Dubai Philippine consul general) really handles a lot of cases and all that is being supported by our DFA-OUMWA (Department of Foreign Affairs—Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs),” explained Cortes.Gatchalian, who is in Dubai in an unofficial capacity, is the chairman of the committees in energy and economic affairs.The Philippine Senate is on a legislative break and will resume work on January 16.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said more legal assistance is needed when asked about the major issues affecting more than 600,000 documented Filipinos in the UAE.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said more legal assistance is needed when asked about the major issues affecting more than 600,000 documented Filipinos in the UAE.

Senator Gatchalian: Improving legal aid 'biggest concern' for OFWs

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Senator Gatchalian: Improving legal aid 'biggest concern' for OFWs

Rachel Salinel,

ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau

Published Dec 29, 2016 08:34 PM PHT

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Sherwin Gatchalian

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