The false hope Lacson offers



THE JUST COMPLETED trip to Riyadh and Dammam this week by oppositionist Senator Panfilo Lacson was probably deemed a success by Lacson and his handlers. In Riyadh he dined with Philippine Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla and Filipino community leaders, where he announced that the two million pesos in assistance he had promised to the local "Barya Mo, Buhay Ko" project had been handed over to the Department of Labor in Manila.

Of course, the whole trip was evidently a "testing-the-waters" one, a prelude to the frenetic campaigning that most presidential candidates will descend into once the campaign for the 2004 election officially starts. Now that the millions of overseas Filipino workers have been given the right to vote in Philippine elections while abroad, candidates must woo and impress them to get their votes.

Smiling at all the cameras taking pictures of him, and talking boldly of ruling with an iron fist (but within the law, of course) if elected president, Lacson exuded an air of quiet confidence that apparently has fooled many OFWs. Have they forgotten about the millions of dollars held by Lacson in US bank accounts uncovered by military intelligence chief Brigadier General Victor Corpus in 2001? Have they forgotten about the Kuratong Baleleng gang members who were allegedly executed in the back at point blank range by police officers working under Lacson when he was the chief of the Philippine National Police? Or about the allegations that Lacson is supposedly involved in drug trafficking?

Lacson has never explained how he ended up with millions in US bank accounts, with several US properties, and with luxury cars both in the US and the Philippines. Unlike some other politicians, who come from wealthy families, Lacson's origins are modest, making his accumulation of so much wealth extremely suspicious.

Many Filipinos subscribe to the theory that they need a tough father figure to rule the Philippines with steely determination to stop rising criminality and corruption. Many view such leaders as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her predecessors as being too soft on crime and corruption. Lacson fits their bill, but at what cost?

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THE PERENNIAL problem of delayed salaries for foreign workers in Saudi Arabia continues to haunt many, especially Filipinos. Just a few weeks ago I received an email from Filipino workers at an American fast-food chain in Riyadh, who claimed their salaries have been consistently delayed by up to three months for over a year now.

I called one of the distressed workers, let's call him Albert, and he told me that all the Filipino workers at the chain's restaurants in Riyadh and Jeddah were struggling to make ends meet by living on handouts from kind friends. With no money to send home to their families, or to buy food for themselves, many of the workers have been resigning and returning home before their contracts are over.

Albert told me that the delayed salaries were not only causing him to go hungry at times, but that his wife and two children back home were suffering also. He even admitted to me that he had fought with his wife on the phone several times as she thought he had another wife here, not believing that his salary could be delayed for so long.

A large group of these workers even went to the Philippine embassy last year to complain about the delayed salaries, but the case officer told them that this was normal with Arab employers, and that they should just go back to work! Can you believe that?

The good news is that the fast-food chain has now paid its workers one month's salary, with one month's wages still due its Filipino workers. It's just too bad that not enough Saudi employers follow Prophet Muhammad's directive that all workers should be paid before the sweat has dried on their foreheads.

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