RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – The Philippine Embassy here yesterday reiterated its plea to the Saudi government to rush the disbursement of thousands of undistributed wages that Saudi Arabian government employers owe the tens of thousands of Filipino overseas workers who lost their jobs due to the Saudi’s 2015 economic crisis.
The Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) reported that about 10,554 OFWs were affected after several Saudi-based companies went bankrupt, leaving workers without compensation. In a July update, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac revealed that Saudi authorities had disbursed PHP 1.95 billion to compensate 2,500 affected workers. However, the majority of impacted OFWs still await full payment.
“We hope that the process will be fast-tracked so that more of our kababayans can receive what is due them after years of waiting because mainly of litigation,” Philippine Consul Dean Jason Arriola said.
“We always get in touch with them pagdating dito sa concern na ito just to make sure that they know this is a significant concern for us,”Arriola added.
It pointed out that it has decided to ensure that all the remaining arrears are actually delivered to the affected workers. The embassy officials revealed that the Saudi government is going to settle the other remaining claims, although a deadline was not given concerning the full settlement of the case.
This situation brought into view the need for cooperation between both governments to protect the rights and welfare of migrant workers who have faced unforeseen employment challenges in the Middle East.
