DMW building. (ABC via PNA)
MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Migrant Workers has assured unpaid Saudi Arabia overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that they are closely working with the Saudi government to release their unpaid benefits.
“Meron namang mga release (There were releases), we just have to be patient and constantly coordinate with the Saudi side. Rest assured na pinagsisikapan naman natin ito (Rest assured that we are working on it) to cover all the claimants,” Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said in a press conference Thursday.
He said he just returned to the country after a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to discuss the unpaid wages of the remaining 2,000 OFWs.
Cacdac said that to date, 2,500 unpaid OFWs have received their claims from the Saudi government.
He vowed that sooner the remaining 2,000 OFWs would also get their benefits.
“(Our) 2,500 workers have received their benefits in the amount of 130 million Saudi Riyals. There will be in the very near future an additional 2,000 or so to receive the additional releases, and subsequently, there will be another set to receive the benefits, with respect to their claims,” he said.
Cacdac said that the Philippine government is targeting having a substantial number of unpaid OFW claimants receive indemnity by the end of the year and that the DMW is constantly in communication with the Saudi government on the issue.
The DMW is just asking the claimants for more patience.
Meanwhile, Cacdac said that the issues discussed during his visit to Riyadh included the possible renewal of existing bilateral agreements, enhancing the DMW’s presence by expanding the Migrant Workers’ Offices, and opening more job opportunities for Filipino skilled workers, especially in the construction sector.
Over 10,000 OFWs, as well as thousands of other foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, lost their jobs between 2015 and 2016 after their companies declared bankruptcy.
The issue of unpaid wages started to move in November 2022, or after almost a decade, when Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) told President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during a meeting that the Saudi government was ready to take on the financial settlement of the claims.
During the meeting, the Crown Prince informed Marcos that the kingdom was setting aside a 2-billion Saudi Riyal fund for this purpose.