Manila sending top officials to help resolve OFW woes

RIYADH: Unpaid Filipino workers in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah have influenced the decision of the new president, Rodrigo R. Duterte, to send top officials to Saudi Arabia to address the labor problems of thousands of overseas Filipino workers with special reference to the problem of unpaid salaries.

The high-profile team will be headed by the new labor secretary, Silvestre Bello III, who confirmed his travel to the Kingdom on Thursday, according to a local media report.
“I will personally go to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to bring financial aid and offer repatriation to the distressed workers,” Bello said.
He also ordered the recall of two labor attachés in Saudi Arabia for their alleged negligence of duty.
Bello told a local radio program that the labor attachés in Riyadh and Jeddah did not inform the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) that thousands of Filipinos had lost their jobs here.
Atty. Guiling Mamondiong, the newly appointed chief of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will also be accompanying the team.
In Dammam, 400 OFWs at Mohammad Al-Mojil Group have been languishing without salary for several months, said construction manager Engr. Joey Borja. According to him, out of that number, 171 decided to be repatriated while the rest are waiting with hope that the company will recover from its slump.
“I would like to seek help from you with regard to the plight of my fellow OFWs in MMG. Six to twenty months with no salaries and yet they are still encamped here for the last two to five years without vacation, with no surety of repatriation,” he told Arab News.
He said, “we just want the Royal Palace to know that truth that they are not being paid their salaries for 6-20 months already and their families are very much affected.”
“What I need is to go home. One year without salary and four years without a vacation,” said Rogelio Edianel, an electrical and instrumentation foreman.
Iron worker Eric Guzman said that he has not received his salary for 19 months, and he hoped that new administration will take action on their plight.
Commenting on this visit, Saidali Malic, secretary-general of the Duterte Middle East Movement (DMEM) said, the visit of Secretary Bello is a clear manifestation and fulfillment of the president’s earlier promise to give priority to OFW’s welfare and concerns.
“This could be a positive response to OFW’s persistent requests to be heard and redressed with a hope that an open dialogue shall be made available with the secretary,” he observed.