Two Hectic Weeks of Activities for the Filipino Community in Malta

By Veronica Ugates
Malta
July 4, 2014



Today marks the culmination of a two week-activity in Malta which kicked off with the celebration of Independence Day on the 13^th of June 2014 wherein Minister and Consul General Leila Lora-Santos was the honoured guest.

Three days later, Congen Leila Lora Santos had dinner with FIL-COM officers where she raised the possibility of having an impromptu meeting with nurses of the Church Homes for the Elderly where a greater number of Filipino Nurses are employed. Her wish was carried out the following day when she met 9 of the nurses representing 4 of the homes of the Church Curia, shown here from left to right:


Another request made by Congen Leila was to hold a registration of Filipinos for absentee voting. On the 22^nd of June 2014, Sunday,  that wish was granted with the registration taking place at  YTC[ Youth Travel Center ], no. 227 Merchant Street, Valletta where the office of FIL-COM is located.

On the 24^th of June 2014, Congen Leila Santos met with the Filipino crew of Yokohama Lines and that of Virtu Ferries.

The third request was to find a venue where Undersecretary Jesse Yabes may meet the members of the community on his arrival from the Philippines. This was arranged with the assistance of Fr. Aldrin Alvarado who generously opened the conference room of the Millenium Chapel in St. Julians for the purpose.

On the 27^th of June 2014,  leaders of the community met Undersecretary Jesse Yabes, DFA Undersecretary for Migrants. He discussed with us the possibility of raising Level 4 alert which means the forceful evacuation of Filipinos from Libya. He emphasized that the embassy in Rome will assist in the evacuation but he hopes for the community to extend its collective help in the evacuation. Ms. Delia Borja, spokesperson of the FOCOWIM, assured him of the cooperation that the community will extend to the evacuees. On the other hand, Usec Seguis is proceeding to Libya and he said that, based on assessment when he is there and based on developments, the alert level may be brought up to Level 4 or may go down to Level 2.

Thus, there is no decision yet as they are still closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Libya.

Meanwhile Veronica Ugates, FIL-COM president raised the question of a consulate since there is no consular office currently in Malta. Apparently there are difficulties surrounding this issue since Malta is a sovereign state but the number of Filipinos cannot justify the presence of an embassy and neither has Malta an embassy in the Philippines. Thus the possibility of having just a Labor Office is also raised since most of the problems of the Filipinos concern labor rather than consular services. Usec Yabes promised to take up this issue when he returns home.

Further, Ms. Ugates raised the great disparity between the standard contracts that the Filipino workers bring to Malta and the labor laws in Malta such as the undisturbed daily rest of 8 hours whereas in Malta it is 11 hours, and the week-end rest of 24 hours while in Malta it is 36 hours as well as other issues like benefits, vacation ,etc. Ms. Minda Lewis, Ms. Delia Borja and Mr. Jay Gentelizo, Vice President of FOCOWIM,   insisted  that majority of the Maltese employers treat their household workers humanely, which is of course very true but they are not the problem.

There are always exceptions to any rule and it is for the downtrodden that the law must be strictly applied aside from the fact that it is the legal and valid law in Malta. Protection of the workers must be paramount and not left to chance especially because it is in fact the regulation in Malta and we will be remiss if the shortcoming is shown on our side rather than in theirs.

To round-off the two-week activities, FIL-COM officers hosted a Despedida Dinner for Congen Leila Lora-Santos at the TEX MEX Bar. Unfortunately just a few of the officers can come as the week had already started but it was still a good number.