Displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) claiming unpaid wages from the Saudi Arabian government are still unable to get certain answers for their dues.
Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople, however, said they are still negotiating with the Saudi labor officials to settle the dues of over 10,000 former OFWs claiming unpaid wages and benefits from their Saudi employers since 2015.
Ople said the Saudi government recognizes the claims of the OFWs and promised to address the matter in future discussions with the Philippine government.
“In fairness, the Saudi government is in an extra effort to settle the claims. Ako mismo ang nag-raise nito sa meeting (I raised it in the meeting) and they are recognizant into this,” said Ople.
The DMW Secretary explained that the settlement of unpaid salaries and benefits to displaced OFWs is not likely as quick and easy as expected.
Ople managed to raise the issue during her meeting with Saudi officials but was still left unsettled as the bilateral negotiations focused on the resumption of deployment of household workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
“Napag-usapan namin (We have discussed that) they will submit a written status report on the status of the case. We could understand that they are also processing the dues of other claimants. Hindi lang naman kasi mga OFWs natin ang naniningil sa kanila kundi may iba pang mga nationalities (It's not just our OFWs who are asking for claims, there are also other nationalities),” Ople explained.
One case that needs to be attended to is the case of 8,830 workers of Saudi Oger, Ltd.
The construction mogul, once known as a construction magnate in Sudi Arabia, was severely affected by the economic recession and was forced to declare bankruptcy and retrench its workers in 2015.
Some 8,830 OFWs working in the company left with months of unpaid salary and end-of-service benefits amounting to P4.6 billion, based on their computations.
In 2016, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), under the leadership of then Labor Secretary Sylvestre Bello III, promised to negotiate their claims but it is yet to be resolved until now.
With the recent talk to the Saudi labor officials, Ople assured that they are in close negotiation to settle the issue once and for all.
“What is important here is that the case is progressing and we are into this. We will fight for this until our OFWs got their proper due,” Ople attested.
The second round of bilateral talks resumes on December 5 to 6 and the DMW hopes to settle more arbitral considerations between the Philippines and the Saudi government, including the wage claims of the OFWs.