Undersecretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Rafael Seguis, said that he will conduct further investigations into the cases of two household service workers (HSWs) who have appealed to authorities to speed up their cases so that they can return home.

In an email to Arab News on Thursday, Seguis said that he would request that the relevant officials at the Philippine Embassy in the Saudi capital and the desk officer at the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) take further immediate action to speed up the processing of these cases. Seguis is also former Philippine ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The two HSWs involved in these cases are Evangeline Bonita and Dhalia Asuero, who have been staying at the Bahay Kalinga (BK) in the Saudi capital for seven and two months, respectively. Both of them ran away from their employers allegedly due to abuse sustained during their work. In addition to the alleged harassment, Bonita also claimed that her employer had not paid her for five months.

Bonita was due to receive a SR1,000 monthly salary, which is less than the salary agreed for HSWs in a labor pact signed between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. Asuero, on the other hand, had been asked by her employer to repay the SR20,000 that was spent to recruit her before she could be given an exit visa. However, she does not have the money to pay this sum. As a result, Asuero was asked to go back to her previous employer or to seek employment elsewhere in order to find the money to do this.

However, workers staying at the BK are not permitted to leave the premises except when they are going to follow up their case with the Philippine Embassy or the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO).

Bonita is from Leyte province while Asuero is from Bukidnon in Mindanao.