DFA gets P205M to bring distressed OFWs home

MANILA, Philippines—Citing at least P205 million in newly replenished funds for its Assistance to Nationals (ATN) unit, the Department of Foreign Affairs Monday said it was ready to repatriate some 4,500 undocumented overseas Filipino workers from Saudi Arabia.

The ATN now has “sufficient funds” for the repatriation of the distressed OFWs in the Middle East kingdom, DFA spokesperson Eduardo Malaya told the Inquirer.

Some of the distressed workers have been living in a port terminal and under a bridge in the Saudi city of Jeddah, earlier reports had said.

It will cost the government at least P143 million to bring home all the 4,500 OFWs in Jeddah, Riyadh and Al-Khobar, among other Saudi cities hosting Filipino migrant workers, according to Vice President Jejomar Binay, who paid an official visit to the kingdom recently.

Exit visas issued

The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh also “continues to facilitate the securing of exit visas for Filipinos in Saudi Arabia who would like to come home,” Malaya said.

The Saudi mission, headed by Ambassador-designate Ezzedin Tago, had started “purchasing airline tickets for those whose exit clearances have been issued,” Malaya said.

He noted that “a good number of distressed Filipinos were repatriated recently. Last April 24, 80 were cleared for exit by local authorities.”

Another senior diplomat pointed out “the predicament lies not in the funding availability.”

Left without permission

“The repatriation of troubled OFWs could have been faster if not for the relatively slow processing of the exit clearances by (Saudi) authorities and the limited number of available commercial airline tickets during this high travel season,” the DFA official said.

The source, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak, noted that “a sizeable number of our kababayan who are to be repatriated had left their original sponsoring employers without permission and securing no-objection certificates from the latter was difficult.”

Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesperson, confirmed “money (for the OFWs’ repatriation) is now with the DFA in response to the Vice President’s letter to Malacañang.”

“The information was relayed verbally (to Binay’s office by a Palace official),” said Salgado.

According to Salgado, the Office of the Vice President and the DFA will work together probably with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration for the immediate repatriation of overstaying OFWs in Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Binay said he was considering tapping the private sector and local government units to raise funds for the repatriation of the OFWs.

In early April, Binay wrote President Benigno Aquino III a letter requesting for the release of P23.6 million to fund the repatriation of at least 1,084 OFWs housed at the Al-Mina Hajj Terminal in Jeddah.

Binay said the government was paying 15 riyals (about P172.50) daily for every OFW at the facility.

“This creates a serious drain on the limited resources of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh,” he said.

According to Binay, the President had previously authorized this funding, as requested by the DFA. But the Department of Budget and Management simply referred it back to the DFA.