Senator Raffy Tulfo recently conducted an ocular inspection at the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) office and embassy shelter known as "Bahay Kalinga 2" in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Tulfo, who chairs the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers, was welcomed by Labor Attache Antonio Mutuc Jr. along with the entire MWO staff.

Tulfo praised the organized and systematic set-up of the office, just like the Grievance Processing Center. However, he still gave suggestions to further improve the MWO's service to OFWs who come to the office.

Mutuc, for his part, thanked Tulfo for the support he has given to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), and said their office continues to benefit from it. 

Mutuc cited how Tulfo earlier proposed to hire local Arab lawyers for the Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN), the budget of which came from the AKSYON fund that the Senator supported during the Senate budget deliberations. Because of this, Tulfo said the defense of OFWs who have legal problems became easier, faster and more effective.

Tulfo was also happy to learn from Mutuc that recently, an OFW on death row was acquitted thanks to the Arab lawyer who handled the person's case. The OFW was found to be the victim of a frame-up.

“Bagamat mayroon pang 23 Pilipino na may iba't-ibang kaso na kasalukuyang nasa piitan sa Riyadh, umaasa ako na kalaunan ay makakalaya at mapapauwi na sila (Although there are still 23 Filipinos with various cases currently imprisoned in Riyadh, I hope that they will eventually be released and sent home),” he said.

“Ilan sa 23 ay may kasong theft. At gaya ng aking duda noon pa man, marami sa kanila ay mga domestic helpers na tumatakas dahil hindi na nila makayanan ang hindi magandang trato ng kanilang mga amo kaya sila ay binabalikan at ginagawan ng kwento (Out of the 23, one has a theft case. And as I suspected from the beginning, many of them are domestic helpers who ran away because they can no longer endure the mistreatment from their employers, which was why they were often pursued and their stories twisted),” he added.  

Meanwhile, Tulfo also praised the management of Bahay Kalinga, a refuge for OFWs who were victims of abuse by their employers and those who have pending cases in Saudi courts, such as pregnancy outside of marriage.

Tulfo noticed that the shelter had complete facilities to cater to OFWs .

Lastly, Tulfo thanked the Saudi government for the ongoing mutual cooperation between Saudi and the Philippines on the matters concerning OFWs.