The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Friday announced it is negotiating for a new bilateral labor agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to improve the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) there.
In an ambush interview at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said they are now coordinating with their counterpart in the Saudi government for the creation of the technical working group (TWG) to oversee the matter.
Bello said among the provisions DOLE wants in the new accord are the same recommendations President Rodrigo R. Duterte had issued for the protection of OFWs in Kuwait last year.
These include making it mandatory for employers to allow their OFWs to keep their passports and cellphones, setting their meal and rest time, and banning their relocation without authorization from the Philippine posts.
These provisions will be included in the employment contract of OFWs and are expected to minimize incidents of maltreatment once implemented.
DOLE wants these provisions standardized for OFW contracts in Saudi, and later Dubai and Abu Dhabi, although they have yet to be implemented in Kuwait.
Bello said DOLE may reimpose a total deployment ban in Kuwait if its government continues to stall the implementation of OFW protection measures.
Duterte had ordered a total deployment ban in Kuwait last year after the reported brutal death of a OFWs in the oil-rich country.
Bello arrived at the NAIA terminal 1 on Friday accompanied by over a hundred OFWs who were repatriated from the government shelter in Riyadh.
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Hans J. Cacdac together with the Coalition of Licensed Agencies for Domestic and Services Workers (CLADS) and the Philippine Recruitment Agencies Accredited to Saudi Arabia (PRAASA) extended cash aid and other assistance to the repatriates.
CLADS President Lucy Sermonia said they will also provide alternative employment opportunities to affected OFWs if they will want to work abroad again.
Bello said the remaining 200 OFWs in shelter in Riyadh are expected to be repatriated before the end of year.
The Labor chief said he went to Saudi to negotiate for the release of the back pay and other financial benefits, which has an estimated worth of P4.2 billion for over 8,000 displaced OFWs.
The OFWs, most of which are construction workers, lost their jobs in 2016 due to the economic woes of several construction firms in KSA.
“It has already been three years since they lost their jobs. Some of them already found new jobs abroad or absorbed in the government’s Build, Build Build project. Hopefully, their back pay will be released as soon as possible,” Bello said.
Bello said Saudi officials have yet to give an exact date for the release of said benefits.
“But they promised to give priority to our workers. Because aside from Filipino workers, other foreign workers like Indian and Pakistani are also waiting for their backpay,” Bello said.
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