Around 400 checks intended for the payout of the second batch of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who lost their jobs in various construction companies in Saudi Arabia nearly a decade ago will finally be distributed “within the next month.”
Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac said Friday, Feb. 9, that the checks are compensation for the unpaid wages and other benefits of the displaced OFWs after the companies they were working in Saudi Arabia went bankrupt between 2015 and 2016.
Prior to this, President Marcos announced last Tuesday that the payment for some 1,104 claimants have already started in late January.
Of the 1,104 claimants who received checks from Saudi-based Alinma Bank, a total of 843 OFWs have already encashed their payouts, Marcos added.
The claimants were assisted by the Overseas Filipino Bank (OF Bank) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) by allowing the OFWs to open accounts where claims checks could be deposited and the cash payouts could be received.
The undistributed checks from the first batch of claimants are due for clearance next week while the second tranche consisting of 400 checks will be distributed not later than the end of March, according to the DMW OIC.
“This will bring the number of Saudi OFW claimants’ checks distributed for payout and encashment to about 1,500,” Cacdac noted.
It can be recalled that in the third quarter of 2023, the DMW submitted to Saudi authorities a list consisting the names of 10,554 OFWs with verified iqamas. An iqama is the official government permit required of foreign nationals to live and work in Saudi Arabia.
“This is just the start of what we see as a deliberate process of distribution of claimants’ checks and encashment resulting into the full payout of each of our displaced OFW’s unpaid claims and other benefits,” Cacdac said.
The official admitted that there is a lot of work that needs to be done.
This includes organizing the process by which the heirs of claimants who have passed away can receive the payouts, as well as addressing discrepancies in terms of some claimants’ real identities and the names written on the checks.
Cacdac said the OF Bank and Lanbank of the Philippines are helping the DMW in fixing the issues.
“We will continue working with our Saudi counterparts to resolve these issues and we will continue assisting our OFWs and their families through this final stage in receiving their long overdue wages and benefits,” he said.