Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III's raw, intial reaction to reports that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) was going to impose vaccine preferences on inbound foreigners--supposedly including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)--was gold.
"Nung nalaman ko yan, sabi ko, kung ayaw niyo yung aming OFWs, eh 'di wag. Kayo yung nangangailangan (When I learned that, I told myself, if you don't want our OFWs, then so be it. You're the ones in need of them)," Bello candidly said in a virtual press conference Wednesday, May 26.
But the DOLE chief said he subsequently received a clarification from Fidel Macauyag, the Philippine Labor Attaché in Riyadh, KSA on how the new policy on coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines would impact OFWs.
"Sinabihan ako na yung patakaran na yun, yung bagong policy ng Saudi, ay kino-cover lamang yung mga foreign travelers. Hindi kasama yung ating mga OFWs (He told me that Saudi's new policy would only cover foreign travelers. It won't include OFWs). They will be allowed ," Bello said.
The specifics of the policy, including the Saudi government's preferred COVID-19 brand or brands, was not discussed during the online presser.
The Philippines currently has a total of seven vaccine brands in its portfolio, the most of which is CoronaVac. CoronaVac is made by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
The Philippines is neither wealthy nor a vaccine producer, thus it is banking on the generosity of other countries to increase the availabile COVID-19 jabs for its citizens. Asked if he thinks OFWs gained special exemption from the Saudi vaccine policy, Bello answered in the negative. "They just need our OFWs," he said.
"Pangalawa, kapag nabakunahan na yung ating mga OFWs (Second, once our OFWs have been vaccinated), there should be no danger of contamination ," he stressed.
"Siguro napansin din nila, hindi naman tayo sobra-sobra ng bakuna eh. So kung anong available na bakuna na pwede nating gamitin sa ating mga OFW, ay dapat tanggapin na nila (Maybe they also noticed that we don't have that many vaccines. So they should just accept the OFWs who have been administered with the vaccines available to us)," Bello added.
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Bernard Olalia said last month that KSA remains as the top destination for OFWs. It is followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, and Hong Kong.