Pinoy mall owner withdraws from race for top OWWA post, cites need for OFWs to unite

MANILA, Philippines — An advocate for migrant workers’ rights withdrew his nomination to the top post of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Thursday, citing the need for overseas Filipinos to unite. Miguel “Mike" Bolos, a former community leader in Saudi Arabia, said he was giving way to the nomination of Dr. Mohamad Ali Carlito Astillero, who is being backed by the OFW (overseas Filipino worker) Congress in Riyadh. “I seek for the higher things. The higher thing for me right now is to preserve the unity among the ranks and present a united OFW front to the government officials and to all that matters here at home," said Bolos in an e-mail to friends who were pushing for his appointment to the OWWA. Bolos, a Filipino professional who toiled for 25 years in Saudi Arabia, owns the P60-million three-storey shopping mall in his hometown in Guagua, Pampanga. Nominations to the top OWWA post began after Administrator Marianito Roque got a permanent appointment as labor secretary last week. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo designated Roque as acting labor chief when she appointed then Secretary Arturo Brion as associate justice of the Supreme Court earlier this year, but she let Roque remain as OWWA head. Bolos expressed regrets in letting go of the opportunity to be named OWWA head, but he said the only way overseas Filipinos could be recognized as a potent force is to be united. Bolos, now an entrepreneur based in Manila, used to work as a financial manager at a big company in Riyadh. He was among the founders of the e-Lagda group, which campaigned for absentee voting for Filipino expatriates. He was also part of the Pusong Mamong Task Force (PMTF), a group of volunteers helping distressed Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia. He returned home “for good" three years ago but remained active in his advocacy work for overseas Pinoys. Francis Oca, a community leader in Riyadh, commended Bolos for making a supreme sacrifice and urged others to also throw their support behind Astillero’s nomination. Oca is a member of the OFW Congress, which launched an online petition for Astillero’s nomination at www.petitiononline.com/OWWADMIN/petition.html. The group is to meet on Friday to kick off their campaign worldwide and gather signatures from the officers of different community organizations. Astillero, who hails from Western Mindanao, has worked over the past years as laboratory director at Al-Mishari Hospital in Riyadh for the past 21 years. He worked in Iran, Libya and Saudi Arabia for the last 32 years. An active community leader, he has also helped led fund campaigns for Filipino calamity victims in the Saudi capital. Among the organizations he headed is the Organization of the Knights of Rizal (OKOR) in the Middle East and Africa, of which he was a past “commander." He received various awards, including the Special Presidential Award 1996 - Banaag at Sikat, the San Lorenzo Ruiz Award for Outstanding OFW (1994), the Bagong Bayani Award (1992), and the Most Outstanding Filipino in Saudi Arabia (1990). - GMANews.TV