SOME 9,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) displaced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are expected to finally get P4.6 billion worth of unpaid salaries before the end of the year, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said Saudi Labor Minister Ahmed al-Rajhi made the commitment to him in their meeting last week at the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“So the unpaid salaries of our OFWs can be settled just in time for Christmas,” Bello said in a statement on Sunday.
“Our government is really thankful that the meeting with the KSA labor minister was fruitful,” he added.
In exchange for the payment of the claims, Bello said he will remove the suspension on Arab mega recruitment agencies which were responsible for the deployment of the concerned OFWs.
The agencies were unable to settle the claims of their OFWs despite the Saudi Court ordering them to do so.
The 9,000 OFWs, who were retrenched due to the economic slowdown in KSA, were repatriated by the government in 2016 and are still waiting for the settlement of their unpaid claims from their Saudi employers.
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