"In its deliberations, the congress gave recognition to a model OFW family. It is therefore ironic that even as we speak, 314 of our countrymen, including 79 children, are stranded in Jeddah, camped out in makeshift tents under a bridge near the Philippine Consulate, wanting to go home and pleading for help from our government,” Casiño said during a speech on Monday.

He added that most of these OFWs abandoned their jobs for various reasons, such as nonpayment of salaries, maltreatment, violence and other abuses from their employers.

“In all their messages, there is one common observation — our consulate is not doing enough to help and our officials abroad are partly responsible for making the situation of our OFWs worse than it already is,” Casiño said.

However, the Philippine Consulate told Arab News on Friday that the OFWs referred to had left for the Philippines with consular help.

“But after that, others also camped out under the bridge when they learned that they could also be picked up by the Passport Department and eventually repatriated to the Philippines,” a spokesman from the consulate told Arab News.

He added that on Jan. 3 they were driven away and 60 OFWs camped out in makeshift tents near the consulate. In two to three days, their number increased to 90 and they were also picked up by local authorities, but 10 with kids were left. Gradually, the number again increased.

“When we made the last count recently, there were already 128 undocumented OFWs who also wanted to go home,” the spokesman said. He added that sending home the undocumented OFWs is not that simple. “There's a process to follow and this also takes time. The Philippine Consulate refers them to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs or to the Office of the Governor,” he said.

In some instances, the problem is solved when a case officer from the governor's office manages to talk to the employer and convinces him to issue an exit visa but if not, a letter is given to the OFW to be delivered to the lower court in the municipality where the employer resides.

The lower court would then contact the employer to convince him to settle the case amicably and issue an exit visa for his employee so that he can leave.