FIVE months since being promised by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said it remains uncertain when the back wages of an estimated 10,000 displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) be paid by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
In a press conference last Saturday, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said: “We still don’t know when, how, where will the wages be resolved because the funds (are) not with us. It is with another country. It’s actually with the government of Saudi Arabia.”
“I know you’re getting impatient, but everything must be done bilaterally, between two countries. It cannot be just us going there, getting the money. It is not that simple. We have to go through the diplomatic process,” Ople said.
But Ople assured the former OFWs that talks and consultations are continuous since the promise was given by the Saudi Crown Prince in November 2022.
“We are using quiet diplomacy. It means that we are talking with Saudi Arabia every week, in fact,” she said.
Ople also bared that DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia is set to go to the KSA on March 19 to continue the bilateral negotiations.
“Usec. Olalia will be going there with only one agenda, which is the unpaid claims,” said Ople.
To recall, some 10,000 OFWs were displaced and left unpaid in 2015 and 2016 after several Saudi construction firms had declared bankruptcy.
Subsequently, the Philippine government repatriated the displaced OFWs, while continuously negotiating for their unpaid claims to the Saudi government.
Last November 2022, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has committed to shoulder the unpaid salaries of the 10,000 displaced KSA OFWs.
