Repatriate OFWs now, gov’t urged

MANILA, Philippines—A congressman who recently visited distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia on Saturday called on the government to immediately repatriate them.

Party-list Rep. Cresente Paez (Coop-NATCCO), one of a four-man congressional delegation that looked into the condition of OFWs in Saudi Arabia, said the Filipinos were languishing in temporary shelters in the Arab kingdom.

The delegation was headed by House committee on overseas workers affairs chair Walden L. Bello, with Rep. Ma. Carmen Zamora-Apsay, DIWA party-list Rep. Emmeline Aglipay and Paez as members. They visited OFWS in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar from January 8 to 13.

Migrante International, a nongovernment organization (NGO) that looks after the welfare of overseas workers, had reported that more than 3,000 runaway OFWs were staying in temporary shelters.

Paez said 40 OFWs were living under the Khandara Bridge in Jeddah hoping the Saudi authorities would arrest them so they could be deported to the Philippines.

The OFWs in Saudi Arabia are growing in number every day based on reports received by the Philippine consulate and NGOs that are helping the distressed workers, he said.

Paez said that while they were in Saudi Arabia, the congressmen met two sisters who were both victims of human trafficking.

The sisters said they were raped several times by their employer. “One of them was even raped on the day that they were rescued,” Paez said.

Paez, who represents the cooperatives sector in Congress, said his organization was prepared to support repatriated OFWs by providing them capital to put up their own businesses when they return to the country.

“Our plan is to give them technical assistance like training in putting up their own cooperatives so they could become owners and managers of their own businesses,” Paez said. –Cynthia Balana, Philippine Daily Inquirer