A MIGRANT advocate group sought a full investigation into how a retired Saudi general was still able to continue hiring overseas Filipino workers (OFW) despite a track record indicating a pattern of abuse.
In an online press briefing last Thursday, the Blas Ople Policy Center condemned how General Ayed Al Jeaid and his household treated at least five Filipino household service workers (HSW) as “modern slaves.”
“Let’s walk the talk when we say no Filipino is a slave by making sure that this sadistic family is exposed to the public and reported to the Saudi authorities for harming our women,” BOPC president Susan Ople said.
The victims include Analyn Villena, Mary Grace Bag-O, Ma. Cristina Quiachon, Annaliza Parayno and Ely Mae Merioles Ocampo, who allegedly suffered physical and verbal abuse in the household of Al Jeaid.
Continuous recruitment
Ople questioned how Al Jeaid was able to hire the said HSWs by using different names in separate job contracts, which were approved by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and the services of different recruitment agencies.
Bag-O’s contract was processed by Leila International Services, Inc, while ERRX Recruitment Consulting recruited Quiachon and Villena this year.
Parayno and Ocampo were recruited by WiseRecruit Corp. to work for the general’s family in 2019.
Ople lamented how the concerned personnel in the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) treated the cases of the five HSWs as a mere labor-employer dispute instead of a more serious case of forced labor trafficking.
“All the elements were there: confiscation of passports, deprivation of freedom, and the use of force and intimidation. From the start, this should have been treated as more than just the usual labor violations,” Ople said.
Hold accountable
Each of the abused HSWs received 12,000 riyals each from the Al Jeaid household, which was brokered by the POLO.
The concerned HSWs claimed they were told by the POLO they will have a hard time if they file charges against Al Jeaid, who remains influential in Saudi Arabia.
Upon their arrival in the country last week, the HSWs sought the assistance of BOPC so they could hold accountable the retired general to prevent other OFWs from suffering a similar ordeal.
Ople said they hired a lawyer to handle the case of the HSWs as well as coordinate with the Philippine embassy in Riyadh to look into the case.
“Philippine Ambassador to Riyadh Adnan Alonto also promised the Ople Center that it would look deeper into the case and that the embassy has filed a Note Verbale with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request for assistance,” Ople said.
She said Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Hans Cacdac also pledged to give aid to the five HSWs.