AROUND 10,000 Filipinos formerly working in Saudi Arabia will each receive P10,000 in financial aid as they continue to await payment of their back wages, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said yesterday.
Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said the P10,000 humanitarian package will be shouldered by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“The DMW-OWWA and DSWD will provide P5,000 each for an estimated 10,000 workers-claimants, based on OWWA records,” Ople said in a statement.
As approved by the OWWA Board of Trustees, P50 million will be allocated to cover the financial grant, with an equal amount expected to be provided by the DSWD.
OWWA is also set to issue the implementing guidelines for the release of the funds, according to the DMW.
“OWWA has sufficient funds for this humanitarian program, and we are ready to help the claimants as we have done in the past,” Ople said.
Ople also said talks between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia regarding the unpaid wages are still ongoing.
“We are extending assistance to tide the workers during these difficult times,” she said.
To recall, some 10,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia were displaced and left unpaid in 2015 and 2016 after several Saudi construction firms declared bankruptcy.
Subsequently, the Philippine government repatriated the displaced OFWs, while continuously negotiating with the Saudi government for the unpaid claims.
In November last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman committed to shoulder the unpaid salaries of some off the 10,000 displaced OFWs.
Last January, the DMW asked the displaced workers to register their information with the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in the Philippines as part of the processing of their claims.
