Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are happy with the decision taken by the Philippine administration to bring about a reshuffle of labor attaches in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the sex scandal involving an assistant labor attache in the Kingdom’s capital.

The announcement was made by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz during a hearing at the Philippine Senate recently, which was widely reported in the Kingdom.

The reports quoted her as saying that the Labor Attache Adam A. Musa of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh (POLO-Riyadh) had been recalled because his term had ended, and he would be replaced by Labor Attache Alex Padaen of POLO-Jeddah.

Padaen told Arab News on Monday that he had not received official confirmation of his new assignment. “If it is true, I will be ready to face new challenges and will do my level best,” he said.

Lawyer Jainal Rasul will be transferred from the home office to replace Padaen at POLO-Jeddah. Rasul had earlier been assigned at POLO-Riyadh.

Ambassador Ezzedn H. Tago also said that he had not yet received any official confirmation regarding the transfer of Padaen to Riyadh as the new labor attache.

Benny M. Quiambao, a Filipino community leader in the Saudi capital, said the proposed reshuffle was welcome since it will ensure efficiency in extending services to Filipinos in the Kingdom. “If a labor attache has been in his post for a long time, the tendency is to relax while extending services to the Filipino community. In fact, he does not even take our calls if there’s an emergency,” he said.

In Jeddah, Rodolfo “Boy” Cornejo, chairman of the Kapulungan ng mga Samahang Pilipino (Kasapi) or Organization of Filipino groups, said that he also approves the reshuffle if the aim is to further improve or maximize efficiency in delivering services to OFWs.

“Our labor attache here is doing well, I think, although there’s always room for improvement. OFWs deserve the best service from the government which has called them ‘Modern Day Heroes’,” said Cornejo, who has been working in the Kingdom for the last 30 years.

In Buraidah, Qassim, Dionisio B. Tabuco Jr., an engineer and a Filipino community leader, said that with the expected reshuffle, he’s hoping that OFWs in the Kingdom would really receive what’s due to them as agreed in Manila.

“In my years of being an OFW, I have been a witness to the sad plight of compatriots who had optimistically left the Philippines only to end up working in the Kingdom not receiving what he had been promised back home,” Tabuco said.

His group, Samahan ng mga Manggagawang Pilipino sa Gassim (Organization of Filipino Workers in Qassim), used to raise funds for stranded Filipinos who could not go home because of lack of money to buy plane ticket.

In Al-Khobar, Eduard Rodriguez, a manager at a local firm and member of the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association (ELTA), also expressed optimism regarding the reshuffle.


“There should be reshuffle of labor attaches from time to time to ensure efficiency. Sometimes there are many complaints and this probably happens because the labor attache concerned has been too long on the job which leaves him ineffective,” he said.