Sen. Tulfo slams DMW for giving 'false hope' to unpaid Saudi OFWs

[Lee]

As of the end of July, the OFWs haven't been paid the 10K that Bong promised them.

What would you bet that the Philippine government pays the OFWs all of their back pay before this is done?

 

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Government agencies on Thursday gave different statements on how Saudi Arabia will help overseas Filipinos workers who lost their jobs after several companies declared bankruptcy as they were told not to give "false hopes" to those affected.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) gave different statements on the matter during the hearing of the joint congressional oversight committee on migrant workers. 

During the hearing, Senator Raffy Tulfo pressed DMW officials to give a timeline for the promise of settling the unpaid salaries of laid-off Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia several years ago.

DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia told the panel that the OFWs will be paid "soon."

“Malapit na po sila mabayaran,” he said.

(They will be paid soon.)

But Tulfo wanted the DMW to provide a certain date after President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said in his second State of the Nation Address that the “Crown Prince himself personally committed…that the unpaid claims of Filipino workers would be paid.”

Olalia disclosed that a high-ranking minister from Saudi Arabia will come to the Philippines within the year to bring some “good news” related to the matter.

“Mismo ang Crown Prince ang nangako sa ating mahal na Presidente na babayaran mismo ‘yung Saudi claims ng Kingdom of Saudi Arabia government. May parating po silang napakataas na minister dito po sa ating bansa ngayong taon at ‘yun pong minister na ‘yon ay inaasahan po nating makikipagpulong sa ating mahal na Presidente at may good news po,” Olalia said.

(The Crown Prince himself made the promise to the President that the Saudi Arabia government will pay for it. A high-ranking official will come this year and is expected to meet with the President bearing "good news.")

DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo Jose A. De Vega, however, interjected and said that the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia reported that it is “unrealistic” to settle the claims within the year.

“We don’t want to appear that we are contradicting the word of our fellow agency, but the DFA will be frank, we'll be honest sa ating mga kababayan. Early this year, our embassy reported that it is not realistic to expect to come this year,” De Vega said.

“However, that was before Mr. Olalia himself went to Saudi Arabia some months ago to discuss this matter. So ang agreement is that it’s the DMW handling this because Sec. Toots was the one who announced it. Maybe they have other info that we don’t have,” he added.

De Vega said maybe the DMW might be “lost in translation” as what he understood from his conversation with a vice minister from Saudi is that their government will help in hastening the process of settling the unpaid salaries.

“Ang understanding namin is what Saudi is promising is that they will hasten the process. ‘Yung company pa rin ang magbabayad through the legal process, ‘yung bankruptcy proceedings. That’s our understanding. It’s not Saudi government money which will pay for the non-payment,” he said.

(Our understanding is that Saudi is promising to hasten the process. The companies will still pay through the legal process, the bankruptcy proceedings.)

Asked by Tulfo why the Saudi government is promising the payment, the DFA official said: “Maybe because lost in translation or something.”

“Kaya nila hinihingi yung data na sinubmit ng DMW… the (Saudi) government can pressure (the companies that went bankrupt) and apparently they promise again sa DMW ‘yon…That’s why we never made a statement,” he said.

According to De Vega, this is the information as of around March or April.

Tulfo then reminded the DMW officials not to give premature announcements, as this may give “false hopes” to the affected OFWs.

“It’s like a false hope. Don't give our kababayans false hope. They're hoping na makakatanggap na sila ng pera after so many months or years of waiting, ‘yun pala wala. Pinaasa na natin, don’t. Mag-announce kayo pag siguardo na kayo,” he said.

(They are hoping to get their money after months of waiting, but it may be for nothing. Let''s not give them false hopes. Announce it if you are already sure.)

“Next time, tell your boss ‘wag basta basta ibukas ang kanyang bibig kung hindi siya sigurado para sa kapakanan ng lahat…. sabi mismo ng DFA imposible. Ngayon kawawa naman pala, you gave them false hope,” he added.

(Tell your boss not to announce anything if you are not yet sure. The DFA said it's impossible. You gave them false hope.) 

In November last year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia committed to allocating some 2 billion riyals for the unpaid salaries of some 10,000 overseas Filipinos employed by construction companies that declared bankruptcy in the years 2015 and 2016, which included three major oil firms: Saudi Oger, MMG, and the Bin Laden Group.

After Marcos mentioned Saudi’s promise in his second SONA, Ople said the settlement will come in “just a matter of time.”

"As far as the DMW is concerned, based on our talks with the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development the resolution of claims is just a matter of time,” she earlier said.

“We need to defer to and respect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's own internal processes in handling such claims,” Ople added.

In March, the DMW said it would provide P10,000 in aid to each worker waiting for the Saudi government to fulfill its promise. The funding for the initiative came from both the DMW and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. —VAL, GMA Integrated News

 

Sen. Tulfo slams DMW for giving 'false hope' to unpaid Saudi OFWs (msn.com)

[scott h]

20 minutes ago, Lee said:

What would you bet that the Philippine government pays the OFWs all of their back pay before this is done?

 

No bet! This has been going on since 2015, and since Bong cannot run for office again, he doesn't need the ofw vote. My money is on this dragging on and on like the South China sea situation. Lots of noise, no action