PBBM gets good news from Crown Prince in APEC bilateral talks
Bangkok—The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has committed to earmark 2 billion riyals (about P30.52 billion) for the unpaid salaries of some 10,000 overseas Filipinos employed by construction companies in the Middle East nation that declared bankruptcy six years ago.
This developed as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit hosted by Thailand.
Mr. Marcos said Friday he looks forward to receiving the Crown Prince on a visit to the Philippines to discuss with the Saudi royal “a wide range of issues and areas of cooperation.”
According to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), the Saudi commitment will cover the unpaid salaries of workers of firms that declared bankruptcy in the years 2015 and 2016.
The Saudi Arabian construction companies that went bankrupt include Saudi OGer, MMG, and the Bin Laden group.
“The Crown Prince, His Royal Highness, announced and said that this was his gift—he really prepared for this and this was an agreement reached by the Saudi government just a few days ago,” DMW Secretary Susan Ople said.
“So this is really good news and we thank Saudi Arabia,” she added.
A video of the meeting between the two leaders was posted online by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM).
“That would be very good kung makabisita sa atin si Crown Prince at hindi lamang tungkol sa mga labor, pati na ‘yung mga investments napwede nating gawin (if the Crown Prince could visit us, and we would not just talk about labor, but also about the investments we could make),” the President said through the Office of the Press Secretary.
Mr. Marcos said he and “MBS” talked about their energy needs, notingthat Saudi Arabia was the world’s largest producer of petroleum and that the Middle Eastern kingdom had helped the Philippines during the oil crisis in the 1970s to 1980s.
“Kaya’t baka sakali naman ay tayo maaring makiusap muli na tulungan ulit tayo (That’s why we are hoping we could talk, and they could help us again),” the President pointed out.
Saudi’s labor minister assured Filipino officials that the failure of employers to pay OFWs in Saudi will not happen again, the President said.
In 2020, 26.6 percent of the 3.48 million documented OFWs, or about 925,000 Filipinos, were working in Saudi Arabia, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Aside from construction workers, the Philippines has also deployed health workers and domestic workers to the Middle Eastern kingdom.