Where have all the Filipino limousine drivers gone?

Many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) complain there are hardly any compatriot driving limos anymore, compared to 20 years ago.
“Most of them have left for good as a result of the Saudization program of the government. Others had left earlier because of the competition with other expat drivers,” said a Filipino limousine driver waiting for passengers at a parking lot in the commercial district of Batha. He requested anonymity.
“Some were not treated properly by their sponsors, they could not make their daily ‘boundary’ or they were not receiving their salary on time.”
A boundary is the daily amount a limousine driver needs to pay his sponsor.
There are still about 60 Filipino limousine drivers in Riyadh, said the anonymous driver, but “you can’t just find them.”
The number of Filipino limousine drivers in Riyadh at present is small compared to the total number of OFWs who need their services.
Many OFWs are fetched from home and driven to work daily. Some only occasionally need a Filipino limo driver’s services.
OFWs believe that they are safer when going with a Filipino driver. They prefer to call compatriot limo drivers if they have to go somewhere.
“Filipino limousine drivers now plying the streets of Riyadh used to be truck drivers who were abandoned by their employers,” he said.
That means, he said, that they did whatever it took to still stay and legally work in the Kingdom.
“When our employer abandoned us, we talked to his brother to act as owner of our original sponsor’s limousine company and we worked as drivers.
That’s why we are still here and working legally, unlike compatriots who have run away from their sponsors but have to work part time for survival although they are not allowed under existing local laws,” he said.
He added that the length of time they had been working as limousine drivers had made them accustomed to life in the Kingdom even if they were not making that much. “What makes us enjoy our work is the fact that OFWs shopping in Batha usually come to this place where we wait for passengers, instead of flagging down limousines driven by other expats,” another Filipino limousine driver said.
He added that exchanging jokes with passengers who are fellow OFWs “makes us forget our problems and loneliness from being away from home.”