Long wait over?
CLOSE to 13,000 former overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in oil-rich Middle East (ME) are hopeful that their “long wait” will soon be over.
This after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. got assurance from the Saudi Arabia government that the wage claims of the ex-migrant workers were being processed.
They were laid off in 2015-16 when Saudi construction firms, including Saudi Oger Ltd. and Mohammed Al Mojit Group, declared bankruptcy, forcing the OFWs to return home.
Of the displaced workers, 8,829 were employees of giant Saudi Oger Ltd, while 3,454 were employed by Mohammed Al Mojit Group, according to the Department of Migrant Workers.
President Marcos is now in KSA, home to hundreds of thousands of OFWs, to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Gulf Cooperation Council (Asean-GCC) Summit in Riyadh.
In the view of various quarters, it is heartening to know that the President received an assurance from the Saudi authorities that the unpaid wages of the Filipino workers would be paid.
“We are already coming to the point na ‘yung detalye na lang ang pinag-uusapan. ‘Yung listahan ng mga claimant ay nalinis na, maayos na,” the Filipino Chief Executive explained.
It will be recalled that in a bilateral meeting with Marcos on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Thailand in November 2022, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to set aside two billion riyals for the displaced OFWs.
Marcos said, however, that there is no definite date yet when the Saudis would release the money, adding that “it also depends on the internal processes in Saudi Arabia.”
Certainly, what’s important is that the release of the money “is just a question of when.”
Oo nga naman!
