Government Relief And Rehab Program According to My OFW Friend #PersonalStory

Last November 8, 2014, my OFW friend came over in my place just to tell me about the killer typhoon Yolanda that damaged the Visayas region especially Tacloban. His personal version why it happened and the way the government treated such emergency situation.

He told me that the Pinoy Administration was not ready to act in case huge national disaster befalls our country. And, they need advance planning for every facet of government administration. His sentiments are well received by my own views about this subject matter.

Truly, Pinoy Administration has planned for rebuilding Tacloban and other places, but it takes them a long time to implement. At present, Yolanda survivors are clamoring the ways our government treated them. It’s their lives that has been damaged; their livelihood that has been ravaged and they need support from the government to start all over again.

After a year of relief and rehabilitation by the government, still, majority of the victims are not fully revive by such program. The rate of their action programs are very slow compare to the things that the victims needed. The slow-paced rehabilitation for them tends to give negative result on the government side. Even though how the Pinoy Administration tried to pacify the situation, political elements are bringing more chaos and demonstrations.

This coming January 2015, the Pope from Vatican City is scheduled to visit Tacloban and the government’s trying other places to finish like the airport, roads and other infrastructure. The local officials of Tacloban are not in full cooperation with the present administration that made this place as media arena and a time for the government to hasten the job in Tacloban for Pope’s visit. Besides for finishing the roads, it must be repaired completely.

Planning, coordination among government agencies and local officials, proper inventory and distribution of relief goods are crucial in ensuring that aid reaches the intended beneficiaries immediately. Audit of typhoon Yolanda relief operations released last September, the Commission on Audit (COA) noted that more than a month after Yolanda pummeled the Visayas, P736.3 million out of the P740.2 million in cash donations for Yolanda survivors remained unused and deposited in the bank account of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Most of COA’s adverse findings had to do with poor inventory, storage and transport of relief goods, which in some instances, resulted in relief goods getting wasted and much-needed help getting delayed.

To make sure that funds are immediately used to assist survivors of calamities, COA said that implementing agencies must come up with a program of work for the efficient use of disaster funds.

“When activities among concerned agencies are well coordinated and strategies in project implementation are improved, disaster funds will immediately cater to the purpose for which they are intended.”

It is a must to all government official leaders to plan ahead of time, search for solutions to all facets of the government management system. Therefore, Filipino leaders are the prime mover of every natural disaster that may occur within the framework of their responsibilities.

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Just Another Day of My Life as An OFW #PersonalStory

Just Another Day of My Life as An OFW In Dubai City


I complained to the personnel manager about the irregularities of the job procedures and the discrimination that loomed within the operations department that I was managing, but ironically, it was me, was branded as troublemaker. They couldn’t sack me officially because I hadn’t done anything wrong, but they made life as awful as they possibly could.

I couldn’t live with it all so I just left. I’d already been asked by another establishment if I wanted to transfer to act as an Operation Manager of a newly constructed food establishment. I’d decided I couldn’t go because of some personal reasons and government restrictions. But then I thought why not? I’ve nothing to lose. I went for another place which was just the break I needed, and I forgot all about my old job. The whole thing opened the door to other opportunities and I was able to think about what I really wanted. It changed my life for the better and I got out of the rut I was in.

My attitude is that if you have talent and you’re willing to have a go at different things, something like that doesn’t really matter. It’s only a few people’s subjective opinion of you, and others will think you’re great. You shouldn’t let it defeat you as long as you know you’ve done nothing wrong. And, if you’ve done something wrong and has been sacked, however, this is the time to admit it to yourself and do something about it in the future, whether it’s improving your job or life. But whether you deserved to be given the boot or not, you’ll still have the problem of explaining why looking for a job.

Unless you’re asked, don’t volunteer that you’ve been sacked. Gloss over it if you can. Say there were no prospects in the job – that’s true after all. Or, you can say you had to leave to find a job because there was no way of getting out for interviews. Avoid mentioning the bad things that will go against you. Some people feel duty-bound to confess all, but they shouldn’t. Concentrate on the positive things about yourself. It’s a blow to your self-esteem but you’ve got to look at the future and be positive.

It’s probably less of a blow to the ego when your department is made redundant and you’re not the only one who’s been picked out to go. It was easier because the whole line of business went, so whether I was good or bad never arose. But when you see your friends going to work in their suits, you still can’t believe that you’re not doing that job.

It really brings it home how fragile things are. Individuals are expendable. My motto now is “Be prepared.” I keep my management skills up and my living expenses down so if I was fired tomorrow I know I could live on what I could earn from my abilities. In today’s climate, you’ve got to be flexible. OFW job’s not permanent when you want the right thing for you to do. But if you’re a “yes-to-all –kind-of-person,” foreign employer will stick you at the bulletin board until retirement with further grave discrimination as a bonus.

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