• 6 AUGUST - *1907 - Gen. Macario Sakay, one of the Filipino military leaders who had continued fighting the imperialist United States invaders eight years into the Ph...
    11 years ago

......................................................................................

The Daily Tribune

(Without Fear or Favor)

Specials:

Bulatlat.com

World Wildlife Fund for Nature-Philippines

The Philippines Matrix Project

Former POEA chief axed because of politics?

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Former POEA chief axed because of politics?

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
Main Article: Conditions of OFWs worsened under Aquino – migrant group
 
MANILA – The appointment of Carlos Cao, Jr. as chief administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), January last year, could have been the start of reforms in the agency. According to Migrante International, Cao has been, so far, the “most accessible, open-minded and sincere among POEA chiefs.”

“When he assumed office, he immediately conducted consultations with us to learn about our needs and demands. He was clearly still new to the job but we appreciated his sincerity and good intentions for OFWs,” said Garry Martinez, Migrante International chairman.

However ,last January 2, Cao was replaced by former Labor undersecretary Hans Cacdac. News reports said Cao did not receive any official word from the Office of the President, which appointed him to the post, that he would be removed or would be replaced. It was the higher-ups from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) who informed him.

He said he has no idea about the reasons behind his ouster. “I don’t know why they removed me from my post. There has been no issue of corruption, no scandal. In my personal view, I was able to manage the process flaws in the agency. I can’t understand why I was replaced,” Cao said in a forum held last June 11 conducted by Migrante International. Cao was invited as a reactor in the “Summing-up of the State of Migrants Under Aquino” held at the University of the Philippines.


(Photo courtesy of Migrante International/ Bulatlat.com)
According to Cao, he was the first administrator from the private sector to serve in the POEA. He was chosen by Aquino from a list submitted by the search committee. “I don’t know the president personally, not even Dole Sec. (Rosalinda) Baldoz.” Cao worked as chief legal counsel and head of the Human Resources Department of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation for 19 years and is now serving as Senior Vice President and Special Assistant to the Chairman of the State Group of Companies.

Heart for OFWs

“I have a special burden for OFWs for the longest time. I have neighbors who are working abroad, two of my siblings are also OFWs and my brother-in-law is also a seafarer. So maybe God agreed to put me in POEA,” Cao said in the forum.

He said he may not be an expert on migration but his heart is with OFWs, who are called as “modern day heroes.” In his short stint in the POEA, Martinez said, “the agency united and fought with the migrant sector against budget cuts and for higher state subsidy for direct services for OFWs.”.... MORE

SourceBulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/06/15/former-poea-chief-axed-because-of-politics/

0 comments

Blog Archive