PH, Saudi Arabia sign pact on maids today

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine and Saudi Arabian governments are expected to sign on Friday an agreement that would lead to the lifting of the Middle Eastern kingdom’s deployment ban on Filipino maids, a recruitment industry consultant said Thursday.

Emmanuel Geslani said the two parties were set to sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) following talks held in Manila since Wednesday to iron out differences in their labor relations, particularly the thorny issue of Filipino domestic workers’ pay.

“I think they will have an agreement (today) that would lift the temporary suspension by the Saudi government of the processing of documents for Filipino maids,” Geslani said in an interview.

Saudi Arabia practically stopped the deployment of Filipino maids last month when it told Filipino labor officials to stop verifying new contracts for domestic workers.

The Saudis had complained about some provisions of a “reform package” the Philippines started implementing in 2006 for the protection of Filipino maids abroad, including the setting of a minimum wage of $400 per month.

Saudi employers also complained about the requirement that they reveal how much money they made and give an exact address.

“They did not like it that they had to reveal their annual income and submit pictures of themselves and their children. They said it was like they were being investigated,” Geslani said.

But he said there would be no changes made to the $400 minimum monthly salary requirement as Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz had insisted on it.

“That is non-negotiable for Baldoz. She has said it could still go up but it would not be lowered,” Geslani said.