INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
The payment of the unpaid wages of some 10,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) abandoned by their Saudi employer companies nearly 10 years ago appears to be forthcoming.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) issued an advisory on Jan. 24 telling claimants to coordinate with the agency and with their group leaders to “facilitate the release of payments.”
Hans Cacdac, officer in charge of the DMW, said his office has received “information from Al Kheraiji law office regarding the payments of the claims of former workers of Saudi Oger and Mohammad Al Mojil Group.”
The lists of the workers included in the first batches eligible for payouts have been released to the group leaders of the two companies, he said.
“In order to facilitate the release of payments, workers included in the said lists are advised to coordinate with their group leaders and to contact the DMW through any of the following channels to update their contact information,” Cacdac added.
The DMW may be reached at 0920-5171059 or email saudiclaims@dmw.gov.ph.
Tricky subject
The settlement of the unpaid salaries of around 10,000 OFWs owed by major Saudi companies that declared bankruptcy in 2015 and 2016 has been a thorny issue in bilateral relations that affected the deployment of the OFWs to the kingdom.
During his trip to Riyadh last October, President Marcos raised the issue with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and secured the Saudi government’s assurance to settle the unpaid wages.
The companies involved are the Saudi Bin Laden Group, Saudi Oger, Mohammad Al-Mojil Group and various subcontracting companies.
In 2016, thousands of OFWs were left stranded across Saudi Arabia after they were laid off without being paid by their employers following the global plunge in oil prices.
These OFWs languished in makeshift tents for months, unable to come home since they did not have exit visas and still hoped to get their back pay.
The Philippine government undertook massive repatriation to bring home the stranded OFWs. INQ