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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DMW offers new bilateral labor deal with Saudi gov't

DMW offers new bilateral labor deal with Saudi gov't

Published Sep 9, 2022 04:13 pm

Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople said that she offered a new bilateral labor agreement to the government of Saudi Arabia as she tries to embark on a"fresh start" with the Middle Eastern country instead of hurrying the lifting of the deployment ban there.

DMW Sec. Susan Ople

Ople said there is no need to hurry the lifting of the ban because the Philippines is "not competing" with other countries that also offer their workforces to the Saudi Ministry of Labor.

“We negotiated the best deal possible. Then, I would be satisfied. Hindi kasi ito karera ‘eh, hindi rin ito kompetisyon (This is not a race, it's not a competition either),” Ople said in a recent interview with the CNN Philippines.

“This time we are looking at the concept of Global Compact for Migration both signatories here, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. It is a shared responsibility to adhere to the protection of migrant workers among states, sending countrymen, or receiving countries. We want that spirit of shared responsibility to find itself in the said bilateral labor agreement,” she added.

The Philippines imposed a deployment ban of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia in 2016 because of the hundreds of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who complained that they were supposedly not paid by construction companies in Saudi after they declared bankruptcy, and the case of a retired Saudi general employer who allegedly abused her Filipina maid for five years but was left unpunished.

The DMW chief noted that they were finding better ways to convince the Saudi government to settle their previous liabilities to the OFWs who suffered labor malpractice and abuses from their employers.

“(That’s why) we are embarking on this fresh start. Like, new talks,” Ople uttered.

She said the real problem why the employment ban is still in effect is because there are no "serious talks" between the Philippines and the labor executives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to fix the issues.

“The problem here is that no one is talking to the Saudi side. We thought it already stopped, but since Saudi Arabia has been our friend for a long time, and the Saudi government has shown their interest in the reforms for their foreign workers, we decided to have a new talk once and for all,” Ople explained.

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