Press Release
April 14, 2007

VILLAR ASKS DOLE, POEA TO ADDRESS PLIGHT OF OFWS
WHO CANNOT ENTER SAUDI ARABIA

Senate President Manny Villar asked Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo Brion and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration chief Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz to immediately look into the plight of over 3,000 Filipino workers bound for but are deterred from entering Saudi Arabia.

This delay in finding suitable job opportunities in Saudi Arabia is hurting not only our overseas workers and their families but also our economy which significantly benefits from their remittances, Villar stressed. All legal means to assist them should be exhausted, he said.

Earlier, the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc. (PASEI) reported that more than 3,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been hampered from leaving for Saudi Arabia due to a new government hiring policy requiring them to get a visa attestation from accredited agencies in the said country.

PASEI president Vic Fernandez said, Many OFWs supposed to be deployed to Saudi Arabia are now cooling their heels in Manila while their employers seek agreements with Saudi-based recruitment agencies for compliance with this new rule delaying the processing procedure.

Fernandez said recruitment agencies in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain are also discussing the possibility of requesting their governments to adopt the same rule to make foreign workers get the services of accredited agencies in securing their visas.

This new rule should be further clarified and if possible a status quo should be adopted by the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Manila until the matter is taken to the highest diplomatic channels by our Department of Foreign Affairs and DOLE, Fernandez said.

Villar said that OFWs, who are recognized as the countrys modern-day heroes, deserve to be urgently assisted by the government in securing employment opportunities abroad.

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