Displaced Saudi OFWs should get unpaid wages —Villanueva

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva exhorted the government to sustain efforts in pursuing the claims of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have been displaced from their jobs in Saudi Arabia nearly 10 years ago.

Villanueva issued the statement as the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) announced that the payments for the first batch of OFWs have been delivered.

“This is a welcome development, but we need to ensure that all of our displaced Saudi OFWs are paid 100 percent of their back wages,” he said.

DMW officer-in-charge Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said earlier that checks were delivered from November to December 2023 for the first batch of 1,506 Filipinos who worked for the Saudi Oger firm.

The agency has submitted the names of 14,007 claimants to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.

There are a total of 10,554 OFWs who were able to submit their Iqamas or Saudi residence permits for foreign hires.

DMW said it is currently working on a memorandum of agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines to assist the claimants of the checks.

On Tuesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. disclosed that the OFWs displaced by the bankruptcies of Saudi Arabian construction companies have started receiving compensation.

Marcos said 1,104 indemnity cheques from Alinma Bank amounting to P868,740,544 have been processed by the Overseas Filipino Bank and Land Bank. Of the number, 843 have been cleared and credited to OFWs.

Villanueva said the OFW's issue was given immediate action after Marcos and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in November 2022.

He asked the DMW and other concerned agencies to continue making representations with the Saudi government to facilitate the immediate release of the back wages and benefits of the affected OFWs.
 
Senator Raffy Tulfo and OFW party-list Representative Marissa Magsino expressed gratitude to the President for his efforts.—Sherylin Untalan/LDF, GMA Integrated News