OWWA recognizes Facebook blunder involving head Arnell Ignacio

February 2, 2023 - 2:43 PM
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File photo shows Arnaldo Arevalo “Arnell” Ignacio (Screengrab from RTVM via PNA)

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration informed the public that appropriate action has been taken concerning a recent post about its administrator.

Several Filipinos previously called out a post about OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio’s personal life on the government agency’s official Facebook page. It has since been deleted.

OWWA itself acknowledged this blunder in a statement on Wednesday, February 1.

“The FB post containing the personal concerns of the OWWA Administrator was erroneously posted on the official Facebook page of OWWA. Appropriate action has been taken. Thank you,” the agency’s statement reads.

Prior to deletion, several Filipinos have already made screenshots of the post in question. They have posted it on Facebook, Twitter and even the online forum r/Philippines.

Based on the screenshots, the post was published on January 21.

Online users also criticized Ignacio for supposedly using taxpayer’s money for his personal gain.

This was not the first social media blunder on OWWA’s Facebook page.

Last weekend, it posted photos of Ignacio eating food at a small eatery in Bacoor, Cavite.

Its caption, however, focused on promoting the comedian-turned-government official’s luxury watch.

The original post has since been deleted. Online users were quick to upload screengrabs of it across social media platforms.

Based on the images, the emoji-littered caption reads: “Mga Kabayan OFWs…Isang Lugawan sa Bacoor Cavite ang naging susyal. Naka [Patek Philippe] watch ang OWWA Admin Arnell Ignacio di ba while eating the lugaw. Very humble yet sosyal di ba hahaha.”

Screenshot of OWWA’s Facebook post (Interaksyon/Patrick James Cruz)
Photo of Arnell Ignacio from OWWA’s Facebook post (Facebook/OWWA)
Closeup photo of Arnell Ignacio’s hand from OWWA’s Facebook post (Facebook/OWWA)

Several online users also criticized the posting as unbecoming for a high-ranking government official.

“Bakit?! At sa official social media page pa ng OWWA? Bakit ganito ang government officials natin sa gitna ng kalunos-lunos na sinapit ng isa nating kababayan sa Kuwait,” tweeted Raffy Magno, executive director of Angat Buhay Philippines.

“It is only in the Philippines [that] you can find a government official boasting about their Patek Philippe watch and [posting] it [on] the official government agency’s official Facebook page. How distasteful!” sociolinguist Jeconiah Dreisbach wrote.

A report said Ignacio is wearing a Patek Philippe with price ranging between $21,000 (P1.1 million) and $485,000 (P26 million.)

(Google exchange rate: $1=PHP 53.95)

Ignacio has yet to comment on these issues as of writing.

OWWA, meanwhile, previously assisted the family of slain overseas Filipino worker Jullebee Ranara with their funeral and electricity expenses in the Philippines.

Based on the agency’s previous posts, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Ignacio and other officials visited Ranara’s wake to express their condolences to the family.

Marcos also reportedly assured government assistance, including scholarship grants for her children.

Reports said that Ranara’s corpse was found in a desert in Kuwait on January 22.