JEDDAH, 14 December 2007 — Several community leaders and groups in the Western Region, who served distressed compatriots this year, were honored recently by the Philippine Consulate.

The awards were part of the celebration of OFW Month, with Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Antonio Villamor and Consul General in Jeddah Pendosina Lomondot presiding.

December has been declared OFW Month by the Philippine government in recognition of the significant contribution of the Filipino migrant workers to the national economy through their foreign exchange remittances, which is expected to hit $13 billion this year.

During the gathering at the Ramada Hotel on Dec. 6, Lomondot thanked the community for their continued support to the consulate in serving OFWs.

Among those in the gathering were members of the Filipino community from Taif headed by Generoso Dalisay and Edgardo Pascua, Juliet Roa of the Circulo Ilonggo, Jauhari Usman of Kasapi, Red Bual of the Boholano Group, Ofelia Laguardia of the Philippine Sunrise International School, William Sol of the Beta Sigma, Kennedy Maruhom and Meljun Fabicon of the Alpha Phi Omega, Aida Salvacion of the Sam Foundation.

Joining the ambassador and consul general were Labor Attaché Des Dicang, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in the Eastern Region, Labor Attaché Adam Mussa, deputy head of the POLO in Jeddah, Welfare Officers Abdurajik Samain and Romeo Pablo, and other consulate officials.

Many of those honored were groups and individuals who lent a helping hand during the repatriation crisis in Jeddah last June and July.

“Your untiring support helped a lot in making life a little easier for our kababayan,” Lomondot said, referring to the ordeal of hundreds of distressed and overstaying Filipinos packed in a “processing center” at the Jeddah port while the Passport and Immigration Department worked on their exit papers.

Among those who helped by giving food and water were the Alpha Phi Omega, the Beta Sigma, the Boholano Group, the OFW Cooperative Council, Circulo Illonggo. Bicol Saro, Guardians and other individuals.

Community leaders, in turn, cited Lomondot and his staff for turning a “disaster” into a successful repatriation effort.

The crisis started when more than 200 mostly distressed workers from the Central (Riyadh) and Eastern (Alkhobar) regions trooped to the consulate in Jeddah after the syndicates who gypped them into leaving the Kingdom via the so-called ‘backdoor” failed to deliver.

In an unprecedented move, Lomondot opened the consulate grounds to the victims while he sought help from Saudi officials in getting them repatriated.

And in another big act of generosity, the Saudi government granted the request and shouldered the plane tickets not only of the syndicate victims but also of hundreds of overstayers, including women and children, who came out of hiding

In the end, a total of 925 Filipinos were sent home, with the consulate spending only for food.

Ambassador Villamor also took the occasion to commend the consulate for absorbing the problems of Riyadh and Alkhobar that spilled over to Jeddah. He further cited the good working relationship between the consulate and community organizations.

Labor Attaché Dicang likewise thanked Lomondot for guiding him during his stay in Jeddah and “for opening my eyes to the good things about Islam.”

Dicang said he got his “baptism of fire” while serving as assistant labor attaché in Jeddah from 2004 to 2006, during which he had the opportunity to deal with the problems of hundreds of distressed workers.

Six months after returning to the Philippines with the conclusion of his tour of duty, Dicang was rewarded another foreign posting, this time as head of the POLO-Eastern Region Operations.

“It was here in Jeddah where I got my actual training in handling cases of distressed OFWs,” Dicang said during the gathering at Ramada Hotel.

Adding spice to the occasion were the TNT Band and Arlene Calleja, who provided entertainment, while Juliet Roa served as emcee.