THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) on Monday said it is now conducting an audit of its accommodations booking for repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amid a report of some irregularities in the process.
In a phone interview, OWWA administrator Hans J. Cacdac told the BusinessMirror the results of the “internal accounting” will be consolidated and submitted to Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III within the month.
The report will also contain details on OWWA’s expenses for the billeting of OFWs to their designated accommodations.
Last month, OWWA reported it already spent P1.1 billion for the transportation, food and accommodation of the 59,000 Covid-displaced OFWs it assisted since March.
The number of OFWs aided by OWWA has since then risen to 95,702 as of July 20, 2020, as the Departments of Foreign Affairs and of Labor and Employment continued the repatriation of migrant workers who lost their jobs as the pandemic shuttered industries and sectors around the globe.
Cacdac said OWWA also “strengthened” its hotel booking committee to ensure the transparency and accountability in hotel bookings.
OWWA made the assurance after the BusinessMirror reported on Monday that there were alleged “brokers,” with links to certain OWWA officials, who are making OFW bookings in “favored” hotels for a fee, as well as supposed padding practices of hotel receipts.
Rate negotiation
As far as he knows, Cacdac said all of their hotel bookings are above board and are done in coordination with the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) and the Department of Tourism (DOT).
In fact, he said there were some cases where they sought the intervention of DOT to “negotiate” for better rates with some hotels, which they felt might have overcharged them.
As examples, OWWA cited three hotels where it sought DOT’s help for lower rates: in one hotel, a reduction of the daily room rate from P3,500 to P3,000; in a second hotel, from P3,800 to P3,000; and a third hotel, from P3,800 to P3,000.
“Currently, we have no specific information regarding any anomalies committed by any OWWA employee. I have letters from the PHOA and the Philippine Hotel Sales Marketing Association, with no indication of any such complaints,” Cacdac said.
“Nevertheless, we are open and willing to subject ourselves to an internal audit by our parent agency, the DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment],” he added.
Existing process
OWWA’s stringent criteria for including a hotel on its roster includes single room occupancy; three full board meals; free internet facility; and must provide free phone calls within Metro Manila.
Cacdac noted the selection was done using their roster of hotels as well as the feedback from the OFWs for whom they were able to provide accommodations.
Among others, the establishments must also provide at least 100 room accommodations; the charge per room must not exceed P3,000 inclusive of value-added tax per day.
“Initially we were going for the budget hotels, but we also decided to expand with a limited budget,” Cacdac said.
“We try our best to distribute the hotels. But of course, when we talk of hotels that provide comfort, there are already some which are known for it, so it should not be a surprise if we billeted some OFWs in certain hotels to provide greater comfort for them during the quarantine period,” he added.
OWWA was hounded by complaints from some OFWs in previous months regarding the poor sanitation in some of the hotels where they were booked. In other better-appointed hotels, meanwhile, the OFWs said they had no complaints with the facilities, but rued the long time it took for the Bureau of Quarantine to process their Covid-19 tests, a vital clearance before being reunited with their families in the provinces.
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