DFA exec says video of scavenging OFWs ‘staged,’ warns that Saudi Arabia strict on cyber libel

Overseas Filipino workers, especially those in Saudi Arabia, should think twice before posting anything on social media amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Arriola said on Wednesday.

During a Senate hearing, she was asked about the viral video of OFWs supposedly scavenging for food in Riyadh.

Arriola said that based on her independent investigation, it appears that the said video was "staged."

"I think one of the people who posted the video was already arrested. So, we just want to tell our Filipinos, especially in Saudi Arabia, that please be careful with your social media post because we cannot ruin the reputation of the corporate nation you're working for because they are strict with cyber libel," she said.

Last week, Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Adnan Alonto said he was disappointed that some OFWs have "resorted to threatrics to catch attention."

"Fact is food assistance was given. Mamulot ng basura? C’mon!" Alonto said in a Twitter post.

Migrante-Middle East slammed the envoy's allegation that what was caught in the video were all "theatrics."

"We are not engaging in theatrics to try to get attention," said Louie Perez, one of the OFWs who tried to find food in garbage heaps in Riyadh.

"Truth is, we do not have anything to eat. That is why we would wait for the garbage being thrown by supermarkets and would get the vegetables that are still edible," Perez added.

Arriola, however, said that based on the information she received, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office already extended welfare assistance to the said OFWs five or six times.

"So, I think that's the reason why Ambassador Alonto reacted in that way," she added.

Nonetheless, the DFA official stressed that they are not downplaying the situation in the capital of Saudi Arabia.

"We are not denying that there's a crisis and there's really a problem. [The] jurisdiction of the Riyadh Philippine Embassy is very huge because it's greater than the Philippines," Arriola said. — BM, GMA News