MANILA, 11 January — Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Rafael Seguis is being nominated as ambassador to Indonesia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
"He requested the transfer to Indonesia because he knew that Ambassador Leonides Caday was retiring," head of the DFA's Saudi Desk Victorio Dimagiba told Arab News. Seguis is at present awaiting confirmation by the Commission on Appointments (CA).
Dimagiba explained that Seguis' reassignment was part of the ongoing process of cross-posting among ambassadors in the DFA. Besides, he said, Seguis was already "stressed-out" in Saudi Arabia.
A source at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said Seguis appears to be on leave and Charge d'Affaires to Saudi Arabia Mariano Dumia has temporarily taken his place.
In a report to the DFA, Dumia said the expatriate situation in the Kingdom is now better in that the human rights situation there has improved.
His report to the said a new law on punitive measures spelled out the rights of Filipino detainees and regulated the practice of the legal profession in the Kingdom.
Dumia said in the report that this emerging work atmosphere was triggered by the Kingdom's efforts for inclusion in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
New arrangements were being speeded up for the settlement of labor disputes in the Kingdom, especially those addressing the problem of "no show" of an employer-defendant in court hearings and the ensuing delay in the resolution of the case, Dumia said.
He added that to avoid the problem of pending and overlapping cases at the Labor Committee, the new measures would allow labor disputes to be settled, with or without the presence of the employer-defendant.
Part of the relaxed rules, Dumia said, forbade arbitrary detention for more than five days from the time of arrest.
At the same time, employers have been instructed by Saudi Arabian courts to refund iqama, visa and work permits deducted from expatriates' salaries.
Dumia said that the Directorate General of Passports has been designated by the Saudi Ministry of Interior as the only responsible government body to handle disputes between housemaids and their employers.
However, Dumia said the Saudi government is firm in weeding out illegal foreign workers in the Kingdom to address unemployment of Saudi youth.
He said the Saudi government might require electronic fingerprinting of all expatriate workers in a bid to minimize the problem of illegal workers.
This proposal, if implemented, Dumia said, would likely complicate the Philippine Embassy's efforts in aiding OFWs, some of whom are able to leave the Kingdom without settling their "obligations" to their employers there.
Dumia said the Saudi Arabian government has been discouraging the hiring of expatriate workers by imposing new fees, like a change in profession in the iqama, and more stringent hiring procedures.
The Saudi Arabian government has introduced Saudization and hoped to increase employment for their local populace this way, Dumia said. Unfortunately, some jobs continues to be attractive only to expatriates because the pay was too low.
He pointed out low-paying domestic jobs as an example.
Dumia said this and other lower job categories (blue-collar jobs) were not likely to be covered by the Saudization program although OFWs in such jobs were being threatened with competition from other foreign workers willing to accept even lower pay.
