MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III dismissed reports that some overseas Filipino workers have turned to scavenging for food abroad and loitering around while awaiting their repatriation.
During a House panel hearing on Friday, Bello said the video footage allegedly showing OFWs scavenging for food in trash bins in Riyadh were not really garbage but rejects from groceries.
“Naniniwala ba kayo na ang Pilipino, isang marangal at may dangal na tao ay kakain ng basura? Sa mga groceries in Riyadh, ‘yung mga dinedeliver na pagkain, kapag nireject ng grocery stores, ‘yun ang pinag-aagawan ng mga kasamahan natin,” he said.
(Do you believe that Filipinos would eat garbage? Those are rejected products by groceries.)
“Hindi ito basura. Ito ‘yung hindi pumapasa sa kategorya ng groceries. At hindi ako naniniwala na may Pilipino na kakain ng basura,” Bello added.
(Those are not trash but those that did not meet the standards in groceries. I don’t believe Filipinos would eat garbage.)
The Labor chief likewise dismissed reports that stranded OFWs in Saudi Arabia were forced to sell blood to buy food after losing their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While this is a true practice, Bello said that this has been happening even before the COVID-19 outbreak. It also does not only happen overseas but also occurs in the country.
“Nagbebenta ng dugo ‘yung ating kababayan, hindi dahil sa pangangailangan kundi sa kagustuhan nila na makapagpadala ng dagdag pera sa kanilang pamilya dito sa Pilipinas (Filipinos sell blood not because they need to, but because it is their wish to send more money home),” he said.
“That does not only happen during this pandemic, the truth is that is happening. Even in the Philippines, it happens that there are those who sell their blood to have extra money,” he added.
Bello also denied reports that Filipino migrant workers who returned are not given accommodation and are loitering around the metro even though they are required to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
He said that those who were reported loitering are not OFWs.
“Those people you see under the bdrige, they are not OFWs, because our obligation is when an OFW comes home, after being tested, we immediately bring them to the hotels for them to be under quarantine… Our obligation is to see to it that they are accommodated while they are waiting for the result of their swab test. Hindi ‘yun OFW,” the labor secretary said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has so far repatriated over 56,000 OFWs, of which more than 31,000 are sea-based while more than 25,000 are land-based.
The DFA is also eyeing to bring home more than 37,000 Filipino migrant workers stranded abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic in the next three to four weeks.