Jinggoy to personally check on distressed, jailed OFWs in UAE

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada will personally check on the condition of distressed and jailed overseas Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates and meet with UAE and Philippine officials to discuss OFW concerns and more employment opportunities in his scheduled visit there on July 2.

Senator Estrada will particularly conduct meetings with OFW representatives as well as Philippine labor officials in Dubai, host to some 167,264 documented Filipino workers and their dependents, and in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, where there are about 85,899 documented OFWs and their dependents.

In 2007, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) said 43,763 Filipinos were deployed to UAE.

The seven city-federation UAE is second to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia among Middle East countries in hiring Filipino workers.

"During this visit, I will also personally verify and follow-up on reports regarding a number of distressed OFWs in the UAE, some of whom are reportedly maltreated and not properly paid by their employers, while some others are said to have problems with their documentation status. I will also inquire on the situation of Filipinos detained there," said Estrada, concurrent chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, and of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment.

Estrada added: "I will also directly talk with fellow Filipinos there, hear their stories and concerns and discuss these with officials of the UAE and of Philippine posts in the Emirates."

Joining Estrada in his UAE interaction are: Ambassador Libran Cabactulan of the Philippine Embassy to the UAE; Consul General Noel Servigon of the Philippine Embassy, Abu Dhabi; Consul General Benito Valeriano of the Philippine Consulate, Dubai; Labor Attache Nasser Munder of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, Abu Dhabi; Labor Attache Virginia Calvez of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, Dubai; Consul Vicente Bandillo of the Philippine Consulate, Dubai; and Labor Attache I Florencia Ardivilla of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), Dubai.