An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) couple who recently filed sexual harassment and bribery charges against Philippine Labor Attaché Nasser Mustafa before the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh has asked Saudi Arabian authorities to step in and conduct a probe concerning their case.
In a letter to the Kingdom’s Administration of Expatriate Affairs and the Chief of Police of Riyadh, Herbert and Aireen Mayores said they were left with no other choice but to file a complaint against Mustafa, days after Mustafa lodged a libel case against the couple before the Saudi police.
“May we ask from your honorable office for assistance to execute a thorough investigation we are very much willing to cooperate in the best way we can in the service of the Saudi government,” the husband-and-wife OFW asked the Saudi authorities in a letter dated Dec. 6, 2020.
The two work as liaison officers and welfare officers for licensed recruitment agencies based in Riyadh.
Last week, the couple was held at the police station in Riyadh for almost five to six hours following the libel complaint filed by the labor attaché. On the request of the detained OFWs, the Philippine Embassy secured their temporary release while the case against them remains pending.
Mustafa, however, is now in the Philippines after Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III placed him under investigation in response to the Oct. 21, 2020 letter of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. asking the Department of Labor and Employment chief to “comment” on the cases filed by the Mayores.
Mustafa’s abrupt return to the Philippines has placed the Mayores in a quandary as they were allegedly put under hold departure status by the Saudi government due to the libel complaint they are facing.
In an online interview, the Mayores said that they are supposed to return to the country for the holiday season and, at the same time, lodge a separate complaint against Mustafa before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The conflict between the two camps heightened on Oct 25, 2020 when Aireen filed a complaint against Mustafa before the Philippine Embassy for acts of lasciviousness and sexual harassment that reportedly occurred in the morning of Feb. 13, 2020 inside the labor attache’s office in Riyadh when she was following up some job orders on behalf of her sponsor.
On Oct. 14, the couple decided to seek the Philippine Embassy’s assistance to arrange a meeting with Mustafa after sensing that their jobs were already at stake due to the alleged pressure being employed by Mustafa’s office against their employers and sponsors.
They also claimed to receive threats from certain individuals who are reportedly “allied” with the labor attaché. Mustafa, however, did not show up in the meeting reportedly due to a prior engagement with the Saudi labor office.
Herbert filed a separate complaint on Nov. 6, 2020 accusing Mustafa of sexual harassment against his wife and anti-graft and corrupt practices, among others.
Herbert claimed that Mustafa reportedly received 900 Saudi riyals (about P11,615) worth of personalized pen from a Saudi employer as a “gift” and several hundreds of dollars from other agencies in exchange for the approval of their documents and applications.
On Oct. 21, the complaint of the Mayores against Mustafa finally reached Locsin, prompting the DFA chief to seek clarification with Bello.
In his reply to Locsin on Oct. 29, 2020, Bello said his office had instructed their legal service to conduct a review and evaluation on the explanation of Mustafa vis- a-vis the complaint “in the interest of fairness and equal judgment on both sides.”
The DoLE likewise constituted an investigating team composed of representatives from the Legal Service, POEA, and the International Labor Affairs Bureau for immediate deployment to Riyadh to look deeper into the case.
As part of the investigation, Bello said Mustafa was directed to report to the DoLE home office for “consultation effective immediately to ensure impartial investigation both in Manila and Riyadh.”
In helping the Mayores secure a temporary release from the Saudi police, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh said one of their mandate is to “deliver assistance to Filipino nationals who become distressed due to, among others, criminal cases filed against them.”
“Since the libel case was filed by another Philippine government official and in order to prevent the couple from being detained or imprisoned, the Embassy secured the temporary release of the couple while the case remains pending,” the embassy said.
The Mayores couple thanked the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh for providing them with legal assistance as they vowed to pursue the case against Mustafa to prevent similar incidents to happen to other OFWs and all overseas Filipinos, in general.