No end in sight for OFW woes in Saudi firm, as more workers plead for help

Migration, for many people around the world, is sometimes the best, if not the only, option to improve their life choices, according to the United Nations Development Programme. For some Filipino workers now stranded in Saudi Arabia, however, overseas employment proved to be a choice they regret having made. Now on their third day of staging a hunger strike, five more Pinays in the Kingdom are pleading with the Philippine government to speed up efforts to repatriate them, about two months after they stopped working in protest of what they allege as harsh work conditions. The five overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are all women caregivers employed by the Annasban Group, a multimillion-riyal maintenance and operations firm previously implicated in several other complaints of unfair labor practices. Workers Rolmar Castañeda, Marietta Montaño, Jane Gerarman and Leonor Agorilla said in an interview with GMANews.TV they have been “detained" in the company-owned facility in Riyadh for about two months now, while awaiting results of their request to be sent home. Glory Barangan, meanwhile, stopped working early February and has been with the four other OFWs in the same facility for a month now. Early this year, 43 other OFWs from Annasban have been repatriated by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) also after refusing to go to work on similar grounds. Now, the five workers are calling on the government to extend them the same help. (See: Repatriated OFWs from ME fighting new battle in Manila) Caregiver had herpes zoster In between sobs, Agorilla recalled in an interview with GMANews.TV her ordeal after working for over a year as a caregiver for Majma Rehabilitation Center. Agorilla had worked as a caregiver, instead of cleaner as indicated in the contract she signed here in the Philippines, for a year and six months until she was diagnosed in January with herpes zoster or shingles, a painful and blistering skin rash. (See: Pinay caregiver in Riyadh seeks repatriation due to illness) She suspects that she contracted the disease from one of the patients under her care. She was then sent back to Annasban, which deployed her to the medical facility. “Inalok akong ipagamot ng Annasban, pero ang kundisyon, babalik ako sa trabaho. Ayoko nang bumalik ‘dun. Gusto ko na lang umuwi. Nahihirapan na ako (I was offered medical help by Annasban on the condition that I go back to work, which I don’t want to do. I just want to go home. The conditions are difficult for me)," Agorilla said. She disclosed that she was never given any protective gear or vaccines before deployment. No information was likewise given about the medical conditions of the patients she was assigned to handle. The food allowance and a day off specified in the original contract also never materialized, as she said workers were made to work 12 hours daily with no additional pay. In fact, the agreed salary of 650 Saudi riyals (about P7,900) was reduced by a 100-riyal deduction every month, and she was never allowed to take on a second job as promised by her recruitment agency to augment her income. Every month, she and the other workers were allowed to go out of the company-provided lodging facility for only 30 minutes to buy their groceries. During pay days, the workers had to surrender their ATM cards to the company driver, who would in turn be the one to draw out their salaries as their own movements were restricted. Agorilla said she has now recovered from her illness, but she vows never to go back to that kind of work. “Gusto ko na talagang umuwi. Hirap na hirap na ako. Umiiyak na lang ako tuwing naririnig ko ang mga anak ko, tinatanong ako kung kailan ako uuwi (I really want to go home. I’m just so weary. Whenever I hear my kids ask me when I’ll be coming home, I just break down and cry)," Agorilla said. A 40 year-old native of Ilocos Sur, Agorilla left her two children, aged five and two years old, with relatives in Rodriguez town (formerly Montalban) in Rizal province Drudgery was too much The other workers, meanwhile, complained of similarly dire working conditions. Castañeda, Montaño and Gerarman started working for Annasban in September 2008 as cleaners, instead of caregivers for which they applied. Apart from citing similar contract violations such as reduced wages, non-issuance of benefits, prolonged working hours, and virtual “detention" in the lodging facility, the three took as the last straw the company’s decision to transfer them to another job site, transporting them first to Al Hassa, and then to Riyadh. “’Nung sinabi naman na ililipat kami sa Jeddah, ‘dun na, nag-stop work na kami (When they said that we will again be transferred to Jeddah, that was it for us, we stopped working)," Castañeda said. Barangan decided to stop working in early February, or three months before her three-year contract was set to expire, saying that she could no longer take the drudgery she was being forced to go through. The five workers said they are now being forced by Annasban to pay 5,000 riyals (about P61,314) to cover their deployment costs after breaching their contracts. “Saan kami kukuha ng ganung halaga, eh wala nga kaming trabaho (Where are we supposed to get that amount, when we have already stopped working)?" Agorilla said, adding they currently do laundry jobs for the other employees in the lodging house for 50 riyals (about P613). ‘The OFWs are at fault’ Amid their seemingly hopeless conditions, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and OWWA in Riyadh appear equally helpless, to the point that one official says the workers’ plight may actually be of their own making. “Sila ang may pagkukulang dahil nag-stop work sila, kaya ang kaya lang nating gawin ay makiusap sa Annasban na pauwiin sila (They are at fault here because they stopped work, so all we can do is ask Annasban to allow them to go home)," said welfare officer Nestor Burayag in a separate interview. He said that negotiations with Annasban are ongoing, but added that he has no idea when the OFWs can be repatriated. Normally, the company would be entitled to reimbursement of costs it incurred when employees breach their contracts and stop working, he said. OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon said in another interview that the OFWs’ repatriation is “solely" dependent on Annasban. “Hangga’t hindi ma-negotiate sa employer na mabigyan sila ng exit visa, hindi sila makakauwi. Exit visa lang ang pamamaraan para mapauwi sila (Unless we can negotiate with the employer to issue them exit visas, they can’t go home. Exit visas are the only way for them to be repatriated)," Dimzon explained. She added that OWWA is constantly assisting the five OFWs as the agency is mandated to do so, saying it is doing everything to speed up the workers’ repatriation. Attempts to get in touch with Annasban meanwhile proved futile, as the company could not be reached by phone as of posting time. Inquiries sent via e-mail as early as February have remained unanswered. Previous ban vs Annasban Annasban had been disqualified from participating in the overseas employment program in 2005 due to a number of previous complaints against the company. The order was lifted in 2008 after Riyadh Labor Attaché Rustico Dela Fuente said the cases had been resolved and the agency had reformed its system of employing OFWs. Records from the migrants’ rights group Migrante International however show that even during the three-year ban, the company was able to recruit OFWs. In fact, Migrante had received requests for assistance from at least 137 OFWs in five separate complaint cases, ranging from contract substitution and illegal extension of contract duration, to prolonged working hours and physical abuse. (See: Group seeks permanent ban of notorious Saudi firm for detaining 88 OFWs) Annasban hires Filipino workers through recruitment agencies Placewell International Service Corporation, Saveway International, Global Jobsearch Services Inc., United Placeman Philippines Inc., MHHR Manpower Recruitment & Placement Agency Corp. and GMBLT Manpower Services Inc., according to Migrante. The non-government organization Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan estimates that the Annasban employs at least 800 Filipino workers. In the meantime, on the third day of their hunger strike, Agorilla and her four companions refused to partake of the bread, rice, sardines and noodles sent them by the POLO and OWWA. This is only the second time they received food supply from these agencies since they stopped working, they alleged. “Baka pag namatay ako, makauwi ang bangkay ko (If I die, maybe they’ll send my body home)," Agorilla ruefully said. She then hastened to terminate the call, fearing that the company’s guards might see her and confiscate her phone, her only remaining contact with her children, as well as with groups and agencies she fervently hopes will be able to assist her and other Pinays suffering a similar plight.—JV, GMANews.TV