JEDDAH, 29 May — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will visit the Kingdom early next year to further strengthen ties between the Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, according to Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas.
She made the announcement during a dialogue late Monday night with Filipino community leaders in Jeddah at the Hotel Sofitel Al-Hamrah. She said the visit could either be in March or April.
The president hopes to meet with key Saudi officials as well as the Filipino community to show the government’s gratitude for the tremendous contribution of overseas Filipinos to the Philippine economy, Sto. Tomas said.
Manila is hoping that by early next year, a proposed labor agreement being negotiated between the Saudi and Philippine labor ministries would be ready for signing during Arroyo’s visit, Arab News learned.
Sto. Tomas came to the Kingdom on Friday and met with Labor Minister Ali Ibrahim Al-Namlah to discuss a bilateral agreement governing the hiring of Filipinos workers by Saudi employers.
She was accompanied by Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz and Director Carmelita Dimzon of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Director Antonieta S. Dizon of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Director General Lucita S. Lazo and Director Washington M. Agustin of the Technical Education & Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Labor Arbiter Teresita C. Lora of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).
The officials were returning a visit by a Saudi delegation led by Minister Al-Namlah last year to Manila, where the talks started.
Sto. Tomas reported during a forum in Riyadh on Sunday and later in Jeddah on Monday that the agreement hopes to address such issues as contract substitution in the host country.
Contract substitution is the act in which employers force their employees to sign a contract other than what they have signed in the Philippines, which are attested to and approved by offices of the two governments.
“I think we are nearing an agreement on standard employment contract,” she said, noting that Labor Minister Al-Namlah and the host government’s other officials are very reasonable and concerned about the current plight of foreign domestic helpers in the Kingdom.
Sto. Tomas said they are also pushing for, among others, the provision of days off for domestic helpers, and the establishment of shelters for male runaway workers.
In an opening remark during the dialogue, Sto. Tomas took the occasion to reiterate to OFWs their importance to the Philippine economy.
She said the Philippine economy is not really performing that bad considering that for year 2001, while the economic giants like Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore posted negative growths, the Philippines was on the positive side.
However, she said, the growth rate is still not that big to allow for a stabler economy that could generate enough employment for Filipinos.
She then called for the continued cooperation of OFWs to maintain their jobs if possible.
“Maybe, our economy will continue to be dependent on remittances of OFWs for the next 5-7 years,” she said.
During the open forum, the major concern expressed by representatives of various groups was how the plight of runaways is to be addressed in the absence of an agreement.
The number of runaways keep increasing and the males have been effectively stripped of a shelter since the Philippine mission closed shelters for them in Riyadh and Jeddah a few years ago.
Carlos Sta. Ana, the Philippine Labor Attaché in Jeddah, said they have to close down the “safehouse” in Jeddah because it was deemed illegal under Saudi law.
Moreover, he said, no building owner would allow the use of their structures to shelter runaway workers.
Sto. Tomas could provide no answer for this, except to say that they had raised the matter with the host government, including making a request for the grant of an amnesty for those runaways who have pending iqama arrears.
“We were told that if we harbor runaways, it’s illegal,” she said, adding that the only reason the OWWA shelters for runaway maids in Jeddah and Riyadh are not being raided is that these are inside the Philippine missions. “We could only plead with the host government but we cannot impose.”
“Anyway, we are working very quietly with our counterparts here to try to remedy this kind of structural problem…” she reiterated.
Before leaving for Manila yesterday afternoon, Sto. Tomas and her delegation were taken for a tour of the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital by Dr. Mazen Fakeeh, the hospital’s deputy general manager. The delegation also interacted with the hospital’s big Filipino staff.
