JEDDAH, 13 March 2004 — Fifteen Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), including an engineer, have complained to the Philippine Consulate that they were suffering from depression and starvation because their Korean employer has failed to pay their salaries for five consecutive months.

Unable to take their ordeal anymore, they said they sought assistance from the consulate, only to find themselves farther barred from entering their mess hall (canteen) where meals are usually served.

In a complaint to the consulate, the workers said their employer, Tae Chang Electric Construction Co. Ltd., has failed to provide them decent quarters as required by their contracts, and made excessive salary deductions.

“Halos masiraan ako ng bait sa kai-isip sa pamilya ko na umaasa sa akin,” said Alberto Tiay, a materials engineer assigned in Haddad, Taif.

Tiay and Jeonaldo Rabaca have left Taif to join their 13 starving colleagues stationed at the Jamoom site, 75 km from Jeddah proper. These workers were identified as Arwin Carandang, Luis Yutengco, Ricky Laral, Sonny Alog, Manuel Capuno, Elmeterio Rayo, Rizalino Rojas, Rolando Layao, Melanio Cabigayan, Rodrigo Baesa, Sulpio Gonzalez, Jerry Ferrera, and Romeo Rayo.

Sulpio Gonzales alleged that as cook without a reliever, he worked everyday without salary, day off and overtime pay. Gonzales was a bit lucky from the group because his wife was able to send him few dollars at least to help him cope up with the crisis.

In a recent surprise visit to their jobsite in Jamoom, Arab News and The Filipino Channel found the workers housed in one congested porta cabin of double-decker beds. They were waiting for their colleagues who went begging for donations from passing motorists, mostly trailers. A bit later, they came with two cans of sardines which they shared among themselves with rice cooked in a can of a milk container.

The disgruntled workers complained to Nasser B. Munder, labor attaché of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Jeddah, who advised them to go back to work as he promised to take immediate action on their complaints.

The workers said when they returned, their general manager Hur Choon Hwa prevented them from proceeding to work. “He told us we don’t have any new project and the company has no money for our salaries, so we should not work,” said 34-year-old boom truck operator Roland Layao.

Under pressure from the Philippine Consulate, the Korean employer granted a SR6 per day voucher as food allowance but the workers refused to take it, saying the voucher contained other figures not related to their food allowance.

In a facsimile reply to the POLO office dated March 6, Earnest Wonjin Lee, manager of Tae Chang promised to pay the pending salaries of the workers within this month at the latest, according to the expected payment schedule of their client to the project. The fax further stated, “In addition, the company will interview each employee to clearly find out their will to stay or leave.”

Their wives and relatives of the workers have sought help from concerned agencies, including the Prestige Search International whose representative in Riyadh had sent SR500 for their food sustenance.

The POLO had also sent rice and canned goods.