JEDDAH, 27 July 2003 — After seven long, uneventful months, the 13 stranded fishermen from Jizan finally made their way to airport yesterday, maybe never to come back again to Jeddah. What will come back in their minds, were the pain, anguish and distress they suffered while they waiting to go home.
What they thought was a dream job turned into a nightmare the moment they came to Jizan to work as fishermen. A dispute with their employer Al-Sayad Establishment urged them to leave and find help at the Philippine Consulate. Having no place to stay, the 13 fishermen camped into the consulate all their days. At night, each of them would take a nook or corner and spread whatever they have on the pavement and sleep.
In their stay at the consulate for three months, they depended on food provided by fellow OFWs, particularly on Joe Paduga, president of the Transport Multi-Purpose Cooperative, and the welfare and protection officer of Alyansa.
Paduga couldn’t hide his happiness yesterday after seeing the fishermen were taken to the airport for their flight to Manila. “Medyo pahinga muna tayo (we can now rest for a while),” he told Arab News.
Labor Attaché Nasser Munder, who went to the airport ahead of the group to make sure they make their flight, heaved a sigh of relief: “Now we have one less problem.`”
Helping the distressed fishermen, however, had a down side. Jibreel de Vera, the secretary-general of Alyansa, who has been helping the fishermen since day one, is being accused by the workers’ employer of instigating the fishermen to stop working. The complaint has reached the company where de Vera was working and he was made to answer the allegations.
Through the advice of Labor Attaché Nasser Munder, head of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Jeddah, de Vera and Mohamad Attar Al-Sayad, owner of Al-Sayad Establishment scheduled a meeting at his office. During the meeting, Munder said that the misunderstanding was settled.
But for reasons still unclear, Al-Sayad reportedly complained for the second time, this time citing a copy of an e-mail sent by de Vera to Labor Secretary Sto. Tomas in Manila, following up the fishermen’s case. Sources told Arab News that this time Al-Sayad Establishment is accusing de Vera of “economic sabotage.”
De Vera said he found the “economic sabotage” charge surprising when all he said in his letter was that the process of repatriating the distressed workers was taking a snail’s pace.
What also surprised de Vera and his friends was how his letter to Sto. Tomas reached Al Sayad.
