PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. on late Saturday said Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohamed bin Salman has promised to settle the unpaid wages of around 10,000 OFWs who worked in Saudi Arabian construction firms that closed shop at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The President, in a media interview in Bangkok in Thailand, said that during their bilateral meeting last Friday on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, the Crown Prince said his government will pay the affected Filipino workers of Saudi OGer, MMG, and Bin Laden group, among others.
Aside from this, the Crown Prince also promised there will be more job opportunities for Filipino workers at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is now implementing massive development plans to expand their economy, added Marcos.
He also said that they discussed the surge of Filipinos going to KSA to work in the 70s because of the “building” boom in the Middle East country, and its need for more workers.
Marcos said that as he recalled the demand for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the KSA
after the 1973 oil crisis because of the building boom, the Prime Minister “stopped me and he said that’s not a building boom, the one that’s coming is the building boom, that’s nothing compared to what we are going to do, so we will need more workers.”
He said the “boom” will be an opportunity for more Filipinos to work in KSA.
Marcos said he and the Prime Minister also talked about the Philippines’ need for oil and fertilizer supply.
Marcos said he shared with the Crown Prince and concurrent Prime Minister that he was sent by his father, the late president Ferdinand Marcos, to Saudi Arabia in the 1970s to negotiate for the supply of petroleum to the Philippines and he responded by saying that “we can discuss it again”.
“So babalikan natin lahat ‘yun (So we will get back to it),” the President said, adding the county might be able to get fertilizers from KSA after further discussions on the matter is completed.
Marcos said he is looking forward to hosting a visit of the Crown Prince and concurrent Prime Minister to the Philippines to build on their discussions about a wide range of issues and areas of cooperation.
Details about the visit are not yet available but the President said the Crown Prince had hinted of his plans to visit the Philippines “because my second mother comes from the Philippines.”
“That would be very good kung makabisita sa atin si Crown Prince at hindi lamang tungkol sa mga labor, pati na ‘yung mga investments na pwede nating gawin (That would be very good if the Crown Prince could visit
and the talks will not just be about labor, but also about investments that they can do),” he said.
