SECRETARY Susan Ople of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) yesterday said the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will resume by the first week of November.
In a virtual press conference after conducting a series of bilateral talks with her KSA counterparts, Ople said: “Both the DMW and the MHRSD (Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development) have agreed to work closely together to facilitate the decent and productive employment of OFWs and ensure the protection of their rights.”
“In consideration of the above, the DMW and the MHRSD have reached an agreement to resume the deployment of Filipino workers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia starting November 7th, 2022,” she said.
It was in late November 2021 when former labor secretary Silvestre Bello III imposed a deployment ban to KSA due to the labor abuses committed by retired General Ayed Thawah Al Jealid against Filipino household service workers (HSWs), as well as the unpaid wages and benefits to 9,000 repatriated Saudi OFWs.
In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Marcos Jr. directed Ople to head to KSA to discuss the possibility of resuming OFW deployment.
Ople has been in KSA since late last week for the bilateral discussions between Philippines and Saudi officials, which were led by MHRSD Minister Ahmad Bin Sulaiman Al-Rajhi.
In their joint statement, the DMW and MHRSD bared that they have also agreed to constitute a Technical Working Group composed of representatives from both parties to monitor the implementation of labor reforms and jointly resolve concerns of workers.
They also agreed to implement a blacklist and a whitelist of recruitment agencies and employers in both countries, based on criteria to be agreed upon by both sides.
The two nations also agreed to revise the Standard Employment Contract of OFWs to reflect all guarantees under the Saudi Labor Reform Initiatives, including insurance for unpaid wages, timely release of salaries through electronic payments, and a pre-termination clause.
They also committed to ensure the implementation of a fully automated recruitment process in both countries.
The Philippines and Saudi Arabia also agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on combatting trafficking in persons, investigating, and prosecuting offenders, and providing support to OFW victims of trafficking in persons in both countries.
