MANILA, 14 August 2007 — A top official with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration doubts the veracity of the video showing a Filipina domestic allegedly being raped by her employer in Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with Arab News, the official, who wanted to remain anonymous, said “we (the team investigating the video) are not even sure it is a Filipina.”
“For what we know, it could have been downloaded from the Internet and placed in a cell phone. But we’re giving it the benefit of the doubt so we are investigating,” the OWWA official said.
Despite this video, which shows abuse that overseas Filipino workers claim happens to many Pinay domestics in the Kingdom, there is a line of nurses applying for jobs with the Saudi Ministry of Health.
In fact, crowds of nurses have been flocking to the Saudi recruitment office since reports were aired on Philippine television three weeks ago that Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health was looking for 5,000 Pinay nurses.
The office still lacks some 2,000 nurses but there’s no let-up in the flow of applicants, some of whom have come all the way from Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
“Gusto ko na pong kumita nang mas malaki (I want to earn more),” Marilou Ariola, one of the applicants said.
To make it even more appealing, applicants who complete all the requirements and pass the scrutiny of the interviewers are awarded contracts immediately.
A nurse interviewed by the ABS-CBN News said she had just gotten her contract which promised her a salary of P35,000 including plane fare, board and lodging.
“Masaya po ako na makakaalis na ako (I am happy because I will finally be able to leave),” Ariola added.
Muslim applicants are accorded special privileges since only Muslim nurses can work in holy areas like Makkah and Madinah. Thus applicants who are Muslim and are nursing graduates, even if they do not have licenses from the Professional Regulatory Commission, are deemed qualified to apply. “We have lots of applicants now,” said Saudi Ambassador Mohammed Ameen Wali, who refused to comment on the case of a Filipina domestic allegedly raped by her employer in Saudi Arabia.
On this matter, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Marianito Roque said he was not worried about this and the fact that Filipinas were being recruited.
“That’s the Saudi Ministry of Health,” he said in a telephone interview. “It’s unrelated.”
The OWWA right now is still trying to track down the identity of the alleged victim who is only known by her first name, “Melissa.”
“May 300 names na kami sa database ng mga Melissa (We have a database of 300 named Melissa),” Roque said.
The said video showing the alleged rape of Melissa was brought home by a colleague on her cell phone and top government officials have been ordered to look for this domestic helper and bring her home.
