The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Friday the government is pursuing its commitment to help thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to settle their unpaid salaries in Saudi Arabia, expressing the hope that the claims will be done soon.
DMW officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac issued the remarks following reports that some OFWs who lost their jobs have already received cheques for their unpaid wages in Saudi Arabia.
According to an Unang Balita report, several OFWs who lost their jobs after Riyadh-based construction firms declared bankruptcy in 2015 and 2016 have received cheques from Saudi Arabian banks and in Saudi riyal, but the Philippine banks would not accept them.
Meanwhile, Cacdac assured the OFWs that the government will address the concerns of the OFWs, adding: “There will be an appropriate announcement in one or two days about the manner in which we will help.”
“From our talks with our own counterparts there…we were also informed that the Ministry of Finance is on board to take care of the financial matters because this would involve disbursement of funds,” Cacdac said.
“It’s just hard to pin down a timeline at this point because the Saudi processes still continue. In principle, we respect the Saudi processes, and at the same time we’ll continue to persist in terms of coordination and follow-ups with the Saudi government,” he added.