Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has ordered the creation of a technical working group (TWG) to expedite the claims of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) amounting to P4.6 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) who were forced to return home in 2016 without getting paid their salaries and other benefits.
In a statement, Bello also ordered the inclusion of OFW representatives in the group that will meet with its counterpart from KSA to hasten the processing of claims by some 9,000 OFWs.
The directive came after the successful talks between the Philippines and KSA governments led by Bello and KSA Labor Minister Ahmed al-Rajhi during the Abu Dhabi Dialogue held in Dubai last week.
During the meeting, Al-Rahji agreed to pay the P4.6 billion worth of unpaid wages and benefits to affected OFWs.
“The Department will set up a technical working group which will comprise significant DOLE agencies, such as the labor office in KSA, OWWA, POEA, as well as representatives from the KSA workers’ group, to determine all details relevant to the release of the full settlement,” the labor chief said.
The Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) are DOLE’s lead agencies in protecting distressed OFWs all over the world.
According to OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, all specifics, such as eligibility, distribution mechanism, and documentary requirements, will be finalized through the TWG and should be ready before the scheduled visit of the KSA labor minister in December this year.
“We acknowledge the urgency of your situation and we are ever-conscious that you have been waiting for your hard-earned and well-deserved wages for more than four years,” Bello said.
