This primer of sorts was prepared by the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia to clarify the issues/questions raised on the visit of Philippine Labor Secretary Patricia A. Sto. Tomas and her delegation to Riyadh and Jeddah on May 25-28. Except for some minor editing, Arab News is publishing the primer verbatim.
1. What were the objectives of Labor Secretary Patricia A. Sto. Tomas in visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
The primary objectives of the Secretary’s visit to the Kingdom were:
• To look into the welfare of OFWs, particularly the welfare of stranded OFWs and confer with concerned Saudi officials on how to best address their problems, draw some mechanics that would help eradicate, if not minimize, the recurrence of the problems;
• To strengthen the current good labor relations with Saudi employers who employ large number of Filipino workers; and
• To reach out to various Filipino community organizations and acknowledge their contributions in assisting POLO in its services to help the distressed OFWs.
2. What has she achieved and accomplished during her visit vis-à-vis the issue on welfare, particularly on the problems of runaway OFWs?
The Honorable Secretary had successfully gathered the support of Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ali bin Ibrahim bin Hamad Al-Namlah in cooperating with the Philippine delegation in finding solutions to the problems of runaway OFWs in the Kingdom. Outlining her achievements, the Secretary has accomplished the following:
• She gathered the commitment of the Saudi delegation that it will recognize the employment contract processed by the POEA as the only valid contract for OFWs deployed in the Kingdom and that the contract should not be altered at the worksite without the approval of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in coordination with the POLO.
This commitment is a major breakthrough as it will greatly minimize the problem on contract substitution which is the major cause for OFWs to runaway. POLO records showed that 60 percent of runaway workers complained of contract substitution.
• She had also gathered the assurances of Minister Al-Namlah to make all Saudi agencies accountable for their actions if they were found to have provided their Philippine counterparts false employment information, i.e. job positions, salary rate, place of work... Any agency found guilty of this action would be penalized accordingly.
Supporting this commitment, Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, chairman of the Manpower Council, has approved a ministerial resolution in June 3, 2002 mandating Saudi employment agencies to be held liable for all the information they will relay to foreign recruitment agencies in relation to the employment terms and conditions of the workers.
The commitment of Minister Al-Namlah plus the resolution issued by Prince Naif would discourage the Saudi agencies from committing deceit, thereby preventing possible discrepancies on the provisions in the employment contract signed by the worker from the actual job offer of the employer which, because of these discrepancies, force many workers to run away instead of completing their contract.
• The Secretary has convinced the Ministry to allow again the Post to conduct verification on companies’ capability to maintain workers before they would be allowed to hire workers from the Philippines, a preventive measure that will ensure that only companies capable of providing employment can hire workers from the country. It would be recalled that this practice was stopped when Saudi government pressured the Philippine government to stop the practice during the visit of former Labor Secretary Franklin Drilon in the Kingdom.
• She managed to encourage the establishment of a joint consultative committee with members from the Philippine Embassy and the Saudi National Recruitment Commission (SANARCOM) that would look into the speedy solution of cases of stranded OFWs.
Minister Al-Namlah has also provided another window for the immediate settlement of cases of stranded OFWs when he announced that the workers through the Embassy could directly file their petition for repatriation before his office.
3. Were there other requests she passed to the Saudi government that are awaiting responses? What are they, if there are any?
Yes, the Secretary is still waiting for the answer to her other request:
• The provision of total amnesty to overstaying workers, the TNT’s, who are working without valid working visa. The Secretary requested the possibility of exempting the TNT’s from paying their iqama fees so they could be repatriated. While the Minister did not categorically turn down her request, he promised to raise the matter to the concerned Saudi agency.
• Her other request was for allowing the Post to set up a safehouse for male runaway workers. The Ministry strongly refused to allow us to set up safehouses for male runaway workers. However, it promised to coordinate closely with the Post in speedily resolving the cases of the male workers. The Ministry would want the workers to maximize all the possible legal aspects in pursuing their cases against their employers within the bounds of the Saudi Labor Law. The Ministry discouraged them from running away as this could complicate their cases.
4. Are the repatriated workers who have signed quit claim or waivers despite having claims from their employer still eligible to pursue their claims before the Philippine Labor court?
The issue on waiver or quit claim was raised by the Saudi delegations who requested that concerned Labor offices in the Philippines recognize the waiver or the quit claim signed by the worker prior to his/her departure from the Kingdom as a binding document. The Saudi delegation stressed that as they honor the Philippine contract processed by POEA, we should, in return, honor the waiver or quit claims signed in the Kingdom.
The Philippine delegation acceded to their request on condition that POLO should attest to the waiver or the quit claim. Related to this, the NLRC, POEA and OWWA will study the conditions that would be required before the POLO can attest to any waivers and quit claims to protect the interests of the worker. (To be continued tomorrow)
5. Is it true that the minimum wage of domestic helpers and unskilled workers was reduced to $150 from $200?
Members of the Saudi delegations aired that the practice of putting a cap on the salary of workers, especially if it is unrealistic, causes contract substitution. Thus, they proposed that wages of the workers should be based on the market forces.
The Philippine delegation shared the same view that basing the wage on market forces is better and it would be more beneficial to Filipino workers, particularly the medical workers, technicians, IT practitioners and other professionals as they are highly competitive. Due to high demand for their services, their current salaries would not be affected if the cap on their wages would be removed. These workers constitute 85 percent of the Filipino work force in the Kingdom.
However, the Philippine delegation insisted on putting a cap on the minimum wage of the domestic and the unskilled workers, which account for 12 percent and 3 percent of the Filipino workers, respectively, because the current Saudi wage rate on these two categories are extremely low, even lower than the lowest minimum wage rate in our country. The Saudi side acceded to our request to peg the minimum salary of the domestic helpers at $200 as only those workers who have undergone proper training would be deployed.
On the other hand, the Saudi delegation refused to put a cap on the wage of the unskilled workers. But they acceded upon learning that the Philippine has a minimum wage law that should be followed. As a compromise, The Saudi delegation agreed to have the salary of the unskilled workers be based on, but not lower than the minimum wage of the industrial workers of the National Capital Region in the Philippines
In relation to this, the members of the Philippine delegations will study the composition of the minimum wage whether it should be the basic pay only or should include other allowances such as cost of living allowance, the 13th-month pay, the employer’s contributions to SSS and the Medicare in order to determine the actual amount of the minimum wage. Depending on the composition of the minimum wage, the salary rate of the unskilled workers could range from $150 to $200. It is important to note that the minimum wage for the unskilled workers, whether $150 or $200, does not include the housing and food allowances which are provided by the employer for free.
Basing the wage of unskilled OFWs on NCR’s minimum wage rate, the Philippine delegation found it more advantageous in the long run because as the minimum wage in the NCR increases, the minimum salary of the unskilled OFWs also appreciates. Hence, it is most likely that in the next three to four years, the minimum wage of the unskilled workers would be even more than the current cap of $200.
6. How true are reports that during the Secretary’s visit to the Kingdom, certificates of appreciation were given even to the employers of OFWs who encountered problems in their companies?
Originally, we planned to distribute certificates of appreciation to major employment providers with excellent records, in terms of relations with the OFWs. However, the plan was altered (no distribution of certificates of appreciation took place) because the Committee on Program decided that with the presence of the Secretary, we should take this opportunity to also invite other major employment providers who were subjects of complaints by some Filipino workers to attend the occasion as our way of encouraging them to improve their relations with the Filipino workers.
The occasion was very brief. It was a three-part program which included the welcome remarks of the Ambassador; a short message from the Secretary thanking the employers for their continued belief on the Filipino work force and encouraging them to provide better employment to OFWs and a response from the employers and a pledge to provide over 8,000 new jobs mainly for medical workers, technicians and IT workers.
7. Are those agreements mentioned earlier final and executory?
No. Those agreements are only approved in principle. These were however, part of the summary of discussions agreed on during the visit of the Secretary to the Kingdom in May 25-28, 2002. Further negotiations have to be undertaken between the Philippine and the Saudi delegations to polish and to improve the various agreements before they become official and executory.
For the information of everybody, chances are the Secretary and Minister Al-Namlah would discuss most of these issues when they meet during the convention at the ILO in Geneva this month.
