MANILA, Philippines—The Saudi government has granted a six-month amnesty for overstaying foreigners, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said in a news release.
The amnesty ordered by King Abdullah bin Abdulazziz Al-Saud paves the way for the so-called illegals, including Filipinos, to go home to their home countries without any punishment, she said.
Citing a report by Al-Khobar-based Philippine Labor Attache David Des Dicang, Baldoz said the pardon would cover all foreigners who arrived in Saudi Arabia on Haj, Umrah, visit visa, or any other type of visa which had expired, or those who have violated passport regulations.
“This is, indeed, very good news for Filipino ‘illegals’ in Saudi Arabia,” Baldoz said.
The Saudi Interior Ministry has advised “illegal stayers” to leave the kingdom from September 25, 2010 to March 23, 2011 and can start by reporting to the nearest office of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and completing the necessary procedures for their departure, news reports in Saudi newspapers said.
Dicang said violators caught after this grace period will receive severe punishment including jail time and heavy fines. “The punishment will extend to those who transport or shelter or employ overstayers,” he said.
“We are grateful for this act of charity by the Saudi King,” Baldoz said.
This amnesty will make it easier for the Philippine government to abide by the instructions of President Benigno Aquino III to expand the government’s protection of all distressed overseas Filipino workers. The order includes bringing home stranded Filipinos in Saudi.
Since July, the Department and Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and Employment, through its labor attaches and the welfare officers of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, have been working double time to repatriate Filipinos not only in Saudi Arabia, but also those in other Middle East countries.
From July 10 to September 1 this year, the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices in Jeddah, Kuwait, and Bahrain have repatriated 773 Filipinos, including children of OFWs. Seven hundred and three of them were repatriated from Jeddah.
The Philippines had spent P15 million in repatriation costs.
“We enjoin overstaying Filipinos in Saudi Arabia to take advantage and avail of the amnesty so they can go home to the Philippines,” Baldoz said, even as she directed all labor attaches and welfare officers in the Kingdom to lend a helping hand to facilitate the departure of those who will avail of the pardon.
She also directed them to address the root cause of why Filipinos overstay. “Do the best you can to implement strictly our reform program, particularly on the recruitment and deployment of household service workers,” she said. - INQUIRER.net, September 23, 2010
Showing posts with label Saudi Arabia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saudi Arabia. Show all posts
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Some 800 Filipinos still stranded in Jeddah — OWWA
Around 800 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remain stranded in Jeddah despite government efforts to repatriate them, according to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon said these OFWs are waiting to be cleared by their foreign employers before they can return to the Philippines.
“The 800 remaining OFWs in the Jeddah center could be growing again as more runaways and unregistered OFWs from outside Jeddah seek sanctuary," she said in a statement posted on the agency’s website.
Dimzon vowed to send home all Filipinos sheltered in various Philippine welfare centers overseas.
She said the agency has shouldered the repatriation of 466 OFWs and their children from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from June 27 to August 9 this year.
Nonstop repatriation
“The repatriation of distressed overseas Filipino workers and children in Filipino Workers Welfare Centers abroad will continue until all are flown home under the accelerated repatriation program ordered by the Department of Labor and Employment," Dimzon said.
A total of 1,757 stranded OFWs have been repatriated during the first six months of 2010. In 2009, OWWA said it has repatriated 1,903 OFWs.
Dimzon said OWWA welfare officers are working with the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices and the Department of Foreign Affairs to complete the documentation of the stranded OFWs and their children.
She added that stranded Filipinos will be repatriated within a month from obtaining exit clearances, and complying with biometric and other departure procedures of immigration authorities.
OWWA has been paying the meals and renting space at the Hajj Terminal to accommodate the overflow of Filipino workers awaiting clearances in Jeddah, Dimzon said.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz had instructed OWWA to fly home distressed Filipinos in response to President Benigno Aquino III’s concern over the welfare of Filipinos seeking assistance in Philippine welfare centers.
Clarification
Meanwhile, Dimzon clarified in the same statement that OWWA members paid membership fees totaling to P1.5 billion for 2009, not P12.5 billion as earlier reported.
Dimzon explained that the P12.5 billion is the aggregate amount of the OWWA trust fund from contributions by member-OFWs and their employers, as well as income from investments and other sources.
“Expenditures can be made only if authorized by OWWA’s board of trustees," she said. - Jerrie M. Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV, Article posted August 15, 2010 - 05:24 PM
OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon said these OFWs are waiting to be cleared by their foreign employers before they can return to the Philippines.
“The 800 remaining OFWs in the Jeddah center could be growing again as more runaways and unregistered OFWs from outside Jeddah seek sanctuary," she said in a statement posted on the agency’s website.
Dimzon vowed to send home all Filipinos sheltered in various Philippine welfare centers overseas.
She said the agency has shouldered the repatriation of 466 OFWs and their children from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait from June 27 to August 9 this year.
Nonstop repatriation
“The repatriation of distressed overseas Filipino workers and children in Filipino Workers Welfare Centers abroad will continue until all are flown home under the accelerated repatriation program ordered by the Department of Labor and Employment," Dimzon said.
A total of 1,757 stranded OFWs have been repatriated during the first six months of 2010. In 2009, OWWA said it has repatriated 1,903 OFWs.
Dimzon said OWWA welfare officers are working with the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices and the Department of Foreign Affairs to complete the documentation of the stranded OFWs and their children.
She added that stranded Filipinos will be repatriated within a month from obtaining exit clearances, and complying with biometric and other departure procedures of immigration authorities.
OWWA has been paying the meals and renting space at the Hajj Terminal to accommodate the overflow of Filipino workers awaiting clearances in Jeddah, Dimzon said.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz had instructed OWWA to fly home distressed Filipinos in response to President Benigno Aquino III’s concern over the welfare of Filipinos seeking assistance in Philippine welfare centers.
Clarification
Meanwhile, Dimzon clarified in the same statement that OWWA members paid membership fees totaling to P1.5 billion for 2009, not P12.5 billion as earlier reported.
Dimzon explained that the P12.5 billion is the aggregate amount of the OWWA trust fund from contributions by member-OFWs and their employers, as well as income from investments and other sources.
“Expenditures can be made only if authorized by OWWA’s board of trustees," she said. - Jerrie M. Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV, Article posted August 15, 2010 - 05:24 PM
Sunday, December 13, 2009
OFW spouses accuse each other of murdering maid
MANILA, Philippines--A Filipino couple in Saudi Arabia have accused each other of killing their Filipino maid after a family squabble, and they are now in jail.
Their three children, ages 2, 3, and 5, are now the focus of government efforts, according to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary on Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr.
He said the Philippine embassy in Riyadh has asked the Saudi authorities if it could take custody of the couple's minor children.
Conejos said his office has received reports of the couple's detention only December 8, and thus far, no charge has been filed against either of them.
It is unlikely that they would be beheaded today, three days after, as reported by the migrants group Migrante Friday in e-mail to media outfits.
The DFA is keeping all the names of the concerned individuals confidential.
According to an INQUIRER.net source in government, the maid was killed two years ago, but it has not been established who between the husband and wife was the perpetrator.
The spouses allegedly planned to dispose of the body in the desert but they changed their mind and instead chopped her up and buried her under the floor of their house.
The murder surfaced when the couple showed up at a Saudi police station pointing at each other as the murderer. Police went to their house and found the maid's body.
The maid had been missing for two years.- INQUIRER.net, December 11, 2009
Their three children, ages 2, 3, and 5, are now the focus of government efforts, according to Foreign Affairs Undersecretary on Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr.
He said the Philippine embassy in Riyadh has asked the Saudi authorities if it could take custody of the couple's minor children.
Conejos said his office has received reports of the couple's detention only December 8, and thus far, no charge has been filed against either of them.
It is unlikely that they would be beheaded today, three days after, as reported by the migrants group Migrante Friday in e-mail to media outfits.
The DFA is keeping all the names of the concerned individuals confidential.
According to an INQUIRER.net source in government, the maid was killed two years ago, but it has not been established who between the husband and wife was the perpetrator.
The spouses allegedly planned to dispose of the body in the desert but they changed their mind and instead chopped her up and buried her under the floor of their house.
The murder surfaced when the couple showed up at a Saudi police station pointing at each other as the murderer. Police went to their house and found the maid's body.
The maid had been missing for two years.- INQUIRER.net, December 11, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
OFWs in KSA being used for Arroyo’s political stunt
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: September 19, 2009
Migrante-Middle East, the largest alliance of OFW organizations in the Middle East, has confirmed that at present there are an estimated 300 stranded overseas Filipino workers in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have long been waiting for their repatriation so that they will be reunited with their families back home.
We also have received reports that a few days back, these OFWs were transferred to Hajj Airport in Jeddah for their eventual deportation. The repatriation of OFWs, whose number usually swells during and after Ramadan, has been a recurring problem in Jeddah for years now, which the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) has failed to solve. While the deployment of OFWs abroad easily takes place within one month to three months, the repatriation of runaway OFWs, who are victims of abuses and maltreatment, take three months to one year.
This should not be the case. The “One Country Team” approach of the government is not working and is ineffective; it must be coupled with an effective mechanism that guarantees as well the protection of OFWs’ rights and welfare by the receiving host governments.
The Migrante chapter in Jeddah was the first to come to the aid of these runaway OFWs sometime in June when their number started to build up under the Khandera Birdge in Jeddah.
The PCG and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Jeddah were informed and asked to extend assistance to them; but to our dismay, the OWWA failed to provide even food for their daily sustenance. If the case of the stranded OFWs in Khandera Bridge had not been brought to the attention of the media, the OWWA and PCG would not have acted to give them assistance.
The 300 stranded OFWs now in the Hajj Airport in Jeddah are hoping to be repatriated soon; in fact, they are eager and readying themselves to be home and be reunited with their loved ones. But according to a PCG announcement, only 170 of them will be repatriated. But their repatriation will not happen any day from now until Ms Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrives in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 21
Just like in her previous visit to Saudi Arabia, Arroyo will make sure that she has a trophy to present to the public—the 300 stranded OFWs. This is a cheap publicity stunt at the expense of OFWs’ lives and well-being.
The Arroyo administration which “peddles” OFWs abroad is reluctant to send back home OFWs in distress. Instead, it makes them an object of Ms Arroyo’s cheap gimmickry to deceive the public.
With or without Ms Arroyo’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the hundreds of OFWs in distress must be repatriated immediately. This is primary government responsibility.
—JOHN LEONARD MONTERONA,
regional coordinator,
Migrante Middle East,
migranteme@gmail.com
Posted date: September 19, 2009
Migrante-Middle East, the largest alliance of OFW organizations in the Middle East, has confirmed that at present there are an estimated 300 stranded overseas Filipino workers in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have long been waiting for their repatriation so that they will be reunited with their families back home.
We also have received reports that a few days back, these OFWs were transferred to Hajj Airport in Jeddah for their eventual deportation. The repatriation of OFWs, whose number usually swells during and after Ramadan, has been a recurring problem in Jeddah for years now, which the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) has failed to solve. While the deployment of OFWs abroad easily takes place within one month to three months, the repatriation of runaway OFWs, who are victims of abuses and maltreatment, take three months to one year.
This should not be the case. The “One Country Team” approach of the government is not working and is ineffective; it must be coupled with an effective mechanism that guarantees as well the protection of OFWs’ rights and welfare by the receiving host governments.
The Migrante chapter in Jeddah was the first to come to the aid of these runaway OFWs sometime in June when their number started to build up under the Khandera Birdge in Jeddah.
The PCG and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Jeddah were informed and asked to extend assistance to them; but to our dismay, the OWWA failed to provide even food for their daily sustenance. If the case of the stranded OFWs in Khandera Bridge had not been brought to the attention of the media, the OWWA and PCG would not have acted to give them assistance.
The 300 stranded OFWs now in the Hajj Airport in Jeddah are hoping to be repatriated soon; in fact, they are eager and readying themselves to be home and be reunited with their loved ones. But according to a PCG announcement, only 170 of them will be repatriated. But their repatriation will not happen any day from now until Ms Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo arrives in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 21
Just like in her previous visit to Saudi Arabia, Arroyo will make sure that she has a trophy to present to the public—the 300 stranded OFWs. This is a cheap publicity stunt at the expense of OFWs’ lives and well-being.
The Arroyo administration which “peddles” OFWs abroad is reluctant to send back home OFWs in distress. Instead, it makes them an object of Ms Arroyo’s cheap gimmickry to deceive the public.
With or without Ms Arroyo’s visit to Saudi Arabia, the hundreds of OFWs in distress must be repatriated immediately. This is primary government responsibility.
—JOHN LEONARD MONTERONA,
regional coordinator,
Migrante Middle East,
migranteme@gmail.com
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saudi raises RP nurses’ salary to 40%
By EDD K. USMAN
July 4, 2009, 7:26pm
Published on Manila Bulletin (http://www.mb.com.ph)
With the economic crisis still without end in sight, Filipino nurses working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, particularly those hired effective July 1, 2009, will have a fatter take home pay as the Ministry of Health headed by Minister Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rabeeah raised their salary to 40 percent from the old basic rate of Saudi riyal (SR) 2,550.
This increases the affected newly hired Filipino nurses’ monthly pay from SR2,550 to SR3,570, approximately P45,774.54 in today’s exchange rate (SR1=P12.8220), the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Recruitment Office (SRO) Manila headed by Fahad S. Al-Msaibeeh, employment attaché, said.
Covered by the salary increase are those hired effective July 1 and with at least one year working experience after passing the nurses' board examinations.
“I am pleased to announce that the Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, granted a 40 percent increase in the salary of nurses. We believe that this increase will help not only the nurses we hire, but also their families and extended relatives left in the Philippines whom they are supporting to meet the demands of the high cost of living due to the economic meltdown,” Msaibeeh said in a statement.
“In behalf of the Ministry of Health, I hope that we are able to make the Filipino nurses happy somehow. Although, no amount of money can compensate their sacrifices, hard work and professionalism,” the SRO Manila official added.
Asked for his reaction, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael Seguis welcomed what he described the “very pleasant development.”
Seguis said it is well-deserved “by our nurses for their competence. This is welcomed good news. It is long-deserved.”
At the same time, the official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) urged Filipino nurses who want to work in the kingdom to make sure their documents are in order and contain no fraudulent records because the Saudi government is very strict in applying their laws.
Much earlier this year, Saudi Ambassador Mohammad Ameen Wali revealed his government’s plans to hire about 5,000 Filipino nurses as new medical facilities are being constructed in the kingdom as well as filling the manpower of existing facilities.
The embassy had relayed this to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) under Secretary Marianito Roque for a government-to-government hiring of the nurses.
A delegation from the Saudi health ministry visited the Philippines recently and interviewed thousands of nurses for immediate hiring.
Nurses to be assigned to Makkah and Madinah must be Muslim, while other Saudi areas accept both Muslim and non-Muslim workers.
Saudi Arabia remains the top destination of Filipinos going abroad to work.
July 4, 2009, 7:26pm
Published on Manila Bulletin (http://www.mb.com.ph)
With the economic crisis still without end in sight, Filipino nurses working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, particularly those hired effective July 1, 2009, will have a fatter take home pay as the Ministry of Health headed by Minister Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rabeeah raised their salary to 40 percent from the old basic rate of Saudi riyal (SR) 2,550.
This increases the affected newly hired Filipino nurses’ monthly pay from SR2,550 to SR3,570, approximately P45,774.54 in today’s exchange rate (SR1=P12.8220), the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Recruitment Office (SRO) Manila headed by Fahad S. Al-Msaibeeh, employment attaché, said.
Covered by the salary increase are those hired effective July 1 and with at least one year working experience after passing the nurses' board examinations.
“I am pleased to announce that the Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, granted a 40 percent increase in the salary of nurses. We believe that this increase will help not only the nurses we hire, but also their families and extended relatives left in the Philippines whom they are supporting to meet the demands of the high cost of living due to the economic meltdown,” Msaibeeh said in a statement.
“In behalf of the Ministry of Health, I hope that we are able to make the Filipino nurses happy somehow. Although, no amount of money can compensate their sacrifices, hard work and professionalism,” the SRO Manila official added.
Asked for his reaction, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael Seguis welcomed what he described the “very pleasant development.”
Seguis said it is well-deserved “by our nurses for their competence. This is welcomed good news. It is long-deserved.”
At the same time, the official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) urged Filipino nurses who want to work in the kingdom to make sure their documents are in order and contain no fraudulent records because the Saudi government is very strict in applying their laws.
Much earlier this year, Saudi Ambassador Mohammad Ameen Wali revealed his government’s plans to hire about 5,000 Filipino nurses as new medical facilities are being constructed in the kingdom as well as filling the manpower of existing facilities.
The embassy had relayed this to the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) under Secretary Marianito Roque for a government-to-government hiring of the nurses.
A delegation from the Saudi health ministry visited the Philippines recently and interviewed thousands of nurses for immediate hiring.
Nurses to be assigned to Makkah and Madinah must be Muslim, while other Saudi areas accept both Muslim and non-Muslim workers.
Saudi Arabia remains the top destination of Filipinos going abroad to work.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Saudi needs 1,000 Filipina nurses—POEA
Also for small number of architects, engineers
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 12:10:00 06/19/2009
MANILA, Philippines—The Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in urgent need of female nurses to fill up some 1,000 positions in its government hospitals, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administrator said.
In a statement sent to media outfits, POEA Administrator Jennifer Jardin-Manalili said qualified nurses may personally submit their documents, including a detailed resume with job description, school credentials, employment certificates, copy of passport, and two pieces of 2x2 recent photo at the Manpower Registry Division, Window M at the ground floor lobby of the POEA building on Ortigas Avenue corner Edsa in Mandaluyong City.
The Ministry of Health offers benefits that include annual paid vacation, free economy round trip ticket, housing and transportation allowance, and yearly renewal of contract.
Applicants should be licensed nurses with at least one year hospital experience, and should not be more than 45 years old.
Manalili added that the Saudi Ministry of Finance is also looking for three communication engineers, three architects, and three electrical engineers. Applicants must be male, not more than 50 years old, with 8 to 10 years work experience, and have valid licenses in their fields of work.
Benefits include housing and transportation allowance equivalent to 2 months salary, yearly renewal of contract, and free economy round trip ticket.
Applicants for engineer and architect positions have until June 26, 2009 to submit the same documents as the ones required of nurses to the POEA.
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 12:10:00 06/19/2009
MANILA, Philippines—The Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in urgent need of female nurses to fill up some 1,000 positions in its government hospitals, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administrator said.
In a statement sent to media outfits, POEA Administrator Jennifer Jardin-Manalili said qualified nurses may personally submit their documents, including a detailed resume with job description, school credentials, employment certificates, copy of passport, and two pieces of 2x2 recent photo at the Manpower Registry Division, Window M at the ground floor lobby of the POEA building on Ortigas Avenue corner Edsa in Mandaluyong City.
The Ministry of Health offers benefits that include annual paid vacation, free economy round trip ticket, housing and transportation allowance, and yearly renewal of contract.
Applicants should be licensed nurses with at least one year hospital experience, and should not be more than 45 years old.
Manalili added that the Saudi Ministry of Finance is also looking for three communication engineers, three architects, and three electrical engineers. Applicants must be male, not more than 50 years old, with 8 to 10 years work experience, and have valid licenses in their fields of work.
Benefits include housing and transportation allowance equivalent to 2 months salary, yearly renewal of contract, and free economy round trip ticket.
Applicants for engineer and architect positions have until June 26, 2009 to submit the same documents as the ones required of nurses to the POEA.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Filipino maid jumps off building in Saudi
By Cynthia Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: June 03, 2009
s
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah said Tuesday it would look into the case of a Filipina household service worker who reportedly jumped off a three-story building to escape her employers.
In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Consul General Ezzedin Tago said the Consulate had requested community leaders in the Yanbu area, notably a Filipino nurses’ group, to immediately look after the welfare of the 29-year-old Guiyania Kasan, who is currently confined in the female surgical ward of the Royal Commission Medical Center in Yanbu.
A team from the Consulate is due to visit her shortly. Yanbu is located in western Saudi Arabia, 300 kilometers from Jeddah.
The consular team will look into her case as well as her physical condition, including looking into the propriety of filing a case against her employers for maltreatment.
Kasan has suffered many fractures after she jumped off the building. She is scheduled to undergo operation this week.
According to Kasan, her employers have accused her of stealing jewelry, which she claimed were given to her. She added that her employers allegedly locked her up in the bathroom.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: June 03, 2009
s
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah said Tuesday it would look into the case of a Filipina household service worker who reportedly jumped off a three-story building to escape her employers.
In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Consul General Ezzedin Tago said the Consulate had requested community leaders in the Yanbu area, notably a Filipino nurses’ group, to immediately look after the welfare of the 29-year-old Guiyania Kasan, who is currently confined in the female surgical ward of the Royal Commission Medical Center in Yanbu.
A team from the Consulate is due to visit her shortly. Yanbu is located in western Saudi Arabia, 300 kilometers from Jeddah.
The consular team will look into her case as well as her physical condition, including looking into the propriety of filing a case against her employers for maltreatment.
Kasan has suffered many fractures after she jumped off the building. She is scheduled to undergo operation this week.
According to Kasan, her employers have accused her of stealing jewelry, which she claimed were given to her. She added that her employers allegedly locked her up in the bathroom.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Filipina belies Saudi rape retraction -- Migrante
By Gloria Esguerra Melencio
Arab News through Inquirer.Net
Posted date: June 11, 2008
MANILA, Philippines -- The Filipino woman who reportedly withdrew a claim she was raped by four men in Saudi Arabia described the retraction as a sheet of paper, written in Arabic, that she had signed under duress to speed up her repatriation, a migrant group said.
Now back home in Quirino Province, the woman -- speaking to a local human rights group through her husband -- stands by her accusation that she was gang raped in the coastal region of Qatif on May 19 in the presence of her employer and that she was held against her will.
The overseas Filipino group Migrante International recently called for an inquiry into what happened to the Filipino domestic helper, known as Jessa, who, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), later said her accusations were product of her “imagination.”
Lian Santos, deputy secretary general of Migrante International, said in a press statement that the organization fears that there is a “cover up,” citing the husband’s claim that his wife signed “under duress” a paper written in Arabic.
“Our chapter in the Cordillera has interviewed the husband and the husband belied the DFA’s declaration concerning the retraction of his wife’s earlier statement that she was raped,” said the statement.
“Her wife was only told to sign a paper in Arabic, which she did not understand. Her wife was not even interviewed by embassy officials. The issue now is not the recanting by the victim of her allegation of rape, but rather whether or not the government is truly serving our kababayans (compatriots) in distress.”
Migrante’s chapter in the Middle East received a request from the Migrante chapter in Baguio-Benguet last May 21 in response to an appeal of Jessa’s relatives for the DFA to rescue the woman, who also claims that the rape was videotaped by one of the identified men.
After receiving the appeal from Migrante-Middle East, Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Antonio Villamor immediately dispatched a consular officer and an interpreter to Al-Qatief, some 700 kilometers from Riyadh, to investigate the case and assist the Filipina, soon after receiving instructions from the DFA.
Upon representations of the embassy officer, the Al-Qatief Police summoned the employer on May 26 to present the OFW and shed light on the case. The employer agreed to let the OFW leave and to shoulder the repatriation costs.
In a second note to Villamor dated May 28, Jessa reiterated her thanks for the embassy's facilitation of her repatriation. She informed the ambassador that her employer gave her additional 4,250 riyals to cover her travel expenses.
She arrived in Manila in the afternoon of May 28.
The DFA soon issued a press statement citing her statement dated May 26, 2008, in which she allegedly wrote that the allegations were fabricated and mere products of her "imagination."
But according to Flora Belinan, regional coordinator of Migrante-Cordillera, Jessa was not provided a translation of the document she had signed.
“She felt that her signature would mean immediate escape from her distressed situation. The embassy staff present during the signing did not even advise her on the contents of the document she was signing,” said Belinan.
“What is sickening is that, if all these allegations are true, the DFA would rather cover up the case rather than seek justice for a Filipino citizen.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo had lauded Villamor for “the swift and full attention and action accorded” the case.
But Santos said that this case illustrates a typical model used by the DFA when confronting abuse cases in Saudi Arabia.
“That the victim recanted the allegation of rape is symptomatic of the usual treatment of rape cases by Philippine government representatives in the Middle East,” said Santos. “That the Foreign Affairs Secretary lauds that action of his subordinate is symptomatic of the level of justice that can be attained by women victims under the present administration.” With a report from Philippine Daily Inquirer
Arab News through Inquirer.Net
Posted date: June 11, 2008
MANILA, Philippines -- The Filipino woman who reportedly withdrew a claim she was raped by four men in Saudi Arabia described the retraction as a sheet of paper, written in Arabic, that she had signed under duress to speed up her repatriation, a migrant group said.
Now back home in Quirino Province, the woman -- speaking to a local human rights group through her husband -- stands by her accusation that she was gang raped in the coastal region of Qatif on May 19 in the presence of her employer and that she was held against her will.
The overseas Filipino group Migrante International recently called for an inquiry into what happened to the Filipino domestic helper, known as Jessa, who, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), later said her accusations were product of her “imagination.”
Lian Santos, deputy secretary general of Migrante International, said in a press statement that the organization fears that there is a “cover up,” citing the husband’s claim that his wife signed “under duress” a paper written in Arabic.
“Our chapter in the Cordillera has interviewed the husband and the husband belied the DFA’s declaration concerning the retraction of his wife’s earlier statement that she was raped,” said the statement.
“Her wife was only told to sign a paper in Arabic, which she did not understand. Her wife was not even interviewed by embassy officials. The issue now is not the recanting by the victim of her allegation of rape, but rather whether or not the government is truly serving our kababayans (compatriots) in distress.”
Migrante’s chapter in the Middle East received a request from the Migrante chapter in Baguio-Benguet last May 21 in response to an appeal of Jessa’s relatives for the DFA to rescue the woman, who also claims that the rape was videotaped by one of the identified men.
After receiving the appeal from Migrante-Middle East, Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Antonio Villamor immediately dispatched a consular officer and an interpreter to Al-Qatief, some 700 kilometers from Riyadh, to investigate the case and assist the Filipina, soon after receiving instructions from the DFA.
Upon representations of the embassy officer, the Al-Qatief Police summoned the employer on May 26 to present the OFW and shed light on the case. The employer agreed to let the OFW leave and to shoulder the repatriation costs.
In a second note to Villamor dated May 28, Jessa reiterated her thanks for the embassy's facilitation of her repatriation. She informed the ambassador that her employer gave her additional 4,250 riyals to cover her travel expenses.
She arrived in Manila in the afternoon of May 28.
The DFA soon issued a press statement citing her statement dated May 26, 2008, in which she allegedly wrote that the allegations were fabricated and mere products of her "imagination."
But according to Flora Belinan, regional coordinator of Migrante-Cordillera, Jessa was not provided a translation of the document she had signed.
“She felt that her signature would mean immediate escape from her distressed situation. The embassy staff present during the signing did not even advise her on the contents of the document she was signing,” said Belinan.
“What is sickening is that, if all these allegations are true, the DFA would rather cover up the case rather than seek justice for a Filipino citizen.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo had lauded Villamor for “the swift and full attention and action accorded” the case.
But Santos said that this case illustrates a typical model used by the DFA when confronting abuse cases in Saudi Arabia.
“That the victim recanted the allegation of rape is symptomatic of the usual treatment of rape cases by Philippine government representatives in the Middle East,” said Santos. “That the Foreign Affairs Secretary lauds that action of his subordinate is symptomatic of the level of justice that can be attained by women victims under the present administration.” With a report from Philippine Daily Inquirer
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saudi Arabia: Enact Protections for Domestic Workers
Shura Council to Debate Proposed Annex to Labor Law
March 13, 2009
http://www.hrw.org
Human Rights Watch
The Saudi government has an opportunity to improve conditions for domestic workers dramatically and to serve as a model for the region. It should adopt these reforms quickly to prevent future cases of abuse. - Nisha Varia, Deputy Director of the Women's Rights Division
(New York) - Saudi Arabia's Shura Council should ensure that proposed labor protections for domestic workers adhere to international standards and recommend their prompt enactment, Human Rights Watch today. The Shura Council is planning to discuss the draft annex to the labor law next week and to make recommendations to the Saudi cabinet, which can enact the measure into law.
Saudi Arabia's current labor law excludes domestic workers, denying them rights guaranteed to other workers, such as a weekly day of rest, limits to hours of work, and overtime pay. A 2008 Human Rights Watch report, "‘As If I Am Not Human': Abuses Against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia," documented how domestic workers often worked 18 hours a day, seven days a week, and had little power to collect owed wages in labor disputes.
"The Saudi government has an opportunity to improve conditions for domestic workers dramatically and to serve as a model for the region," said Nisha Varia, deputy director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch. "It should adopt these reforms quickly to prevent future cases of abuse."
The Shura Council is a consultative body. It debates draft legislation presented by the cabinet and, once approved, the draft law goes back to the cabinet which can make further changes and enact it into law.
Approximately 1.5 million women from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and other countries are employed as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities and the foreign missions of domestic workers' home countries receive thousands of complaints of labor exploitation or abuse each year. Excessive workload and unpaid wages, for periods ranging from a few months to 10 years, are among the most common complaints.
Many more cases probably go unreported, given domestic workers' isolation in private homes, employers' ability to have workers summarily deported, and migrants' lack of information about their rights.
"The Shura Council should ensure that the proposed reforms provide domestic workers the same rights accorded other workers under the labor law," said Varia. "Working in private homes does not mean they should lose basic protections, and guaranteeing these rights by law can be especially important since they work out of the public view."
Domestic workers' rights are further compromised by the restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system, which ties migrant workers' visas to their employers, and means employers can deny workers the ability to change jobs or leave the country. Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of domestic workers who said their employers forced them to work against their will for months or years. In other cases, domestic workers face forced confinement in the home, or physical and sexual abuse.
"Comprehensive reforms by the Saudi government are long overdue," said Varia. "Extending the labor law is an important first step the Saudi government can take to fight labor exploitation and violence against domestic workers."
March 13, 2009
http://www.hrw.org
Human Rights Watch
The Saudi government has an opportunity to improve conditions for domestic workers dramatically and to serve as a model for the region. It should adopt these reforms quickly to prevent future cases of abuse. - Nisha Varia, Deputy Director of the Women's Rights Division
(New York) - Saudi Arabia's Shura Council should ensure that proposed labor protections for domestic workers adhere to international standards and recommend their prompt enactment, Human Rights Watch today. The Shura Council is planning to discuss the draft annex to the labor law next week and to make recommendations to the Saudi cabinet, which can enact the measure into law.
Saudi Arabia's current labor law excludes domestic workers, denying them rights guaranteed to other workers, such as a weekly day of rest, limits to hours of work, and overtime pay. A 2008 Human Rights Watch report, "‘As If I Am Not Human': Abuses Against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia," documented how domestic workers often worked 18 hours a day, seven days a week, and had little power to collect owed wages in labor disputes.
"The Saudi government has an opportunity to improve conditions for domestic workers dramatically and to serve as a model for the region," said Nisha Varia, deputy director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch. "It should adopt these reforms quickly to prevent future cases of abuse."
The Shura Council is a consultative body. It debates draft legislation presented by the cabinet and, once approved, the draft law goes back to the cabinet which can make further changes and enact it into law.
Approximately 1.5 million women from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and other countries are employed as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities and the foreign missions of domestic workers' home countries receive thousands of complaints of labor exploitation or abuse each year. Excessive workload and unpaid wages, for periods ranging from a few months to 10 years, are among the most common complaints.
Many more cases probably go unreported, given domestic workers' isolation in private homes, employers' ability to have workers summarily deported, and migrants' lack of information about their rights.
"The Shura Council should ensure that the proposed reforms provide domestic workers the same rights accorded other workers under the labor law," said Varia. "Working in private homes does not mean they should lose basic protections, and guaranteeing these rights by law can be especially important since they work out of the public view."
Domestic workers' rights are further compromised by the restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system, which ties migrant workers' visas to their employers, and means employers can deny workers the ability to change jobs or leave the country. Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of domestic workers who said their employers forced them to work against their will for months or years. In other cases, domestic workers face forced confinement in the home, or physical and sexual abuse.
"Comprehensive reforms by the Saudi government are long overdue," said Varia. "Extending the labor law is an important first step the Saudi government can take to fight labor exploitation and violence against domestic workers."
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
HSW reforms draw positive response in Saudi Arabia
Department of Labor and Employment, www.dole.gov.ph
News Article
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Philippine reforms on the deployment of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) that was strongly opposed for raising the HSWs' minimum monthly wage from US$200 to US$400 generated positive changes that removed the slave-like classification of domestic work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.
Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo D. Brion said the reform package raised not only the deployment wage of Filipino HSWs but also the job category of domestic helpers in the Kingdom from a lowly qadama or slave to HSW, which has been recognized as a position requiring set of skills, training, and at least a high school education.
Brion, citing a report from Riyadh-based Labor Attache Rustico dela Fuente, said the new policy also elicited a higher level of respect for Filipino HSWs from Saudi employers.
He said the new policy on Filipino domestic workers and the change in position title to HSWs resulted in the recognition and greater respect for Filipino HSWs as skilled workers who should not be abused but rather cared for and provided with better employment terms and conditions. Otherwise, employers may lose the vital services of Filipino HSWs.
The new thinking, Brion said, is being manifested by employers and their representatives who come to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh almost everyday indicating their support and compliance with the policy.
"The objective of promoting the welfare and protecting the interest of Filipino HSWs is certainly served by the policy itself," the Labor Chief said.
In December 2006, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issued a package of welfare and protection reforms for HSWs raising the minimum salary of overseas Filipino HSWs from $200 monthly to $400 monthly. It removed from the HSWs the payment of placement fee. The HSWs, nonetheless, are required to undergo assessment. Those who fail the assessment three times will have to undergo skills training.
The new POEA rules for HSWs were strongly opposed due to fears that they may push employers overseas to hire HSWs from other countries who are willing to receive lower wages, thereby, easing out HSWs from the Philippines.
Contrary to such fears, Dela Fuente in his report said that 12 Saudi manpower agencies filed their application with POLO-Riyadh between May and August 2007 alone for pre-qualification to participate in the HSW new deployment scheme.
The labor attaché noted that Saudi recruiters initially expressed dismay on the implementation of the new policy for Filipino HSWs. The Saudis, however, began to give in as shown by daily appearances of employers or their representatives at the POLO to comply with the new HSW policy.
Source: Information and Publication Service
News Article
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The Philippine reforms on the deployment of Filipino household service workers (HSWs) that was strongly opposed for raising the HSWs' minimum monthly wage from US$200 to US$400 generated positive changes that removed the slave-like classification of domestic work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.
Labor and Employment Secretary Arturo D. Brion said the reform package raised not only the deployment wage of Filipino HSWs but also the job category of domestic helpers in the Kingdom from a lowly qadama or slave to HSW, which has been recognized as a position requiring set of skills, training, and at least a high school education.
Brion, citing a report from Riyadh-based Labor Attache Rustico dela Fuente, said the new policy also elicited a higher level of respect for Filipino HSWs from Saudi employers.
He said the new policy on Filipino domestic workers and the change in position title to HSWs resulted in the recognition and greater respect for Filipino HSWs as skilled workers who should not be abused but rather cared for and provided with better employment terms and conditions. Otherwise, employers may lose the vital services of Filipino HSWs.
The new thinking, Brion said, is being manifested by employers and their representatives who come to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh almost everyday indicating their support and compliance with the policy.
"The objective of promoting the welfare and protecting the interest of Filipino HSWs is certainly served by the policy itself," the Labor Chief said.
In December 2006, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issued a package of welfare and protection reforms for HSWs raising the minimum salary of overseas Filipino HSWs from $200 monthly to $400 monthly. It removed from the HSWs the payment of placement fee. The HSWs, nonetheless, are required to undergo assessment. Those who fail the assessment three times will have to undergo skills training.
The new POEA rules for HSWs were strongly opposed due to fears that they may push employers overseas to hire HSWs from other countries who are willing to receive lower wages, thereby, easing out HSWs from the Philippines.
Contrary to such fears, Dela Fuente in his report said that 12 Saudi manpower agencies filed their application with POLO-Riyadh between May and August 2007 alone for pre-qualification to participate in the HSW new deployment scheme.
The labor attaché noted that Saudi recruiters initially expressed dismay on the implementation of the new policy for Filipino HSWs. The Saudis, however, began to give in as shown by daily appearances of employers or their representatives at the POLO to comply with the new HSW policy.
Source: Information and Publication Service
Saudi Arabia launches online service for inquiries on OFW iqamas, visas
Department of Labor and Employment, www.dole.gov.ph
News Article
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) can now inquire about the status of their Iqamas or obtain information on their application for exit and entry visas and other procedures through the Internet, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.
Citing an information from the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Makati City, Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said the KSA's Ministry of Interior has launched an online service which would allow Saudi citizens and expatriates including OFWs to inquire about their IDs, Iqamas, and visas as well as eligibility to perform Haj and other procedures in the Kingdom.
Roque welcomed the new electronic service as this would spare the OFWs from going through the tedious process of inquiring directly with concerned offices in KSA about the status of required documents such as Iqamas and visas.
The website can also provide KSA employers a list of their workers from abroad who have not yet been issued iqamas. The latter is an official identity card depicting an individual as a resident of the Kingdom. Without an iqama, one cannot open a bank account, buy a car, or rent a place to live in Saudi Arabia. The employer usually takes the initiative of ensuring that his/her foreign employee receives an iqama. However, foreign workers in the Kingdom shall take the initiative in the iqama's renewal.
The DOLE Chief said OFWs can simply go to www.moi.gov.sa for the needed information. He called on Filipino groups in KSA to inform their members about the new online service even as he directed the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in KSA to massively circulate an advisory on such service in the Filipino community in the Kingdom.
KSA remains the top destination of OFWs. In 2008, a total of 275,933 OFWs was deployed to this country covering 28.3 % or over a fourth of the total 974,399 OFW deployment during the year.
Owing to the large OFW population in KSA, the DOLE established four POLOs in the Kingdom - in Riyadh, Al Khobar, CRO, and Jeddah where large concentrations of OFWs are situated.
source: Information and Publication Service
News Article
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) can now inquire about the status of their Iqamas or obtain information on their application for exit and entry visas and other procedures through the Internet, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.
Citing an information from the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Makati City, Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito D. Roque said the KSA's Ministry of Interior has launched an online service which would allow Saudi citizens and expatriates including OFWs to inquire about their IDs, Iqamas, and visas as well as eligibility to perform Haj and other procedures in the Kingdom.
Roque welcomed the new electronic service as this would spare the OFWs from going through the tedious process of inquiring directly with concerned offices in KSA about the status of required documents such as Iqamas and visas.
The website can also provide KSA employers a list of their workers from abroad who have not yet been issued iqamas. The latter is an official identity card depicting an individual as a resident of the Kingdom. Without an iqama, one cannot open a bank account, buy a car, or rent a place to live in Saudi Arabia. The employer usually takes the initiative of ensuring that his/her foreign employee receives an iqama. However, foreign workers in the Kingdom shall take the initiative in the iqama's renewal.
The DOLE Chief said OFWs can simply go to www.moi.gov.sa for the needed information. He called on Filipino groups in KSA to inform their members about the new online service even as he directed the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in KSA to massively circulate an advisory on such service in the Filipino community in the Kingdom.
KSA remains the top destination of OFWs. In 2008, a total of 275,933 OFWs was deployed to this country covering 28.3 % or over a fourth of the total 974,399 OFW deployment during the year.
Owing to the large OFW population in KSA, the DOLE established four POLOs in the Kingdom - in Riyadh, Al Khobar, CRO, and Jeddah where large concentrations of OFWs are situated.
source: Information and Publication Service
Saudi sets new age limit for OFWs
By Cynthia Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: May 26, 2009
MANILA, Philippines—Saudi Arabia has released a new minimum age requirement for employment in several categories of Filipino workers to make sure they are mature enough to work in the kingdom.
The new minimum age requirements for the following categories are as follows: Domestic helper—21 years; female nurse and flight attendant—21 years; babysitter (should be Muslim)—21 years; dressmaker—30 years; salesman for textiles and ladies wear apparel shops—40 years; barber—35 years; physical therapist—35 years; family driver—21 years, and male worker—21 years.
Consul Faisal H. Al-Kahtani, head of the consular section of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Manila, said the new age limit would take effect immediately and would be strictly enforced.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: May 26, 2009
MANILA, Philippines—Saudi Arabia has released a new minimum age requirement for employment in several categories of Filipino workers to make sure they are mature enough to work in the kingdom.
The new minimum age requirements for the following categories are as follows: Domestic helper—21 years; female nurse and flight attendant—21 years; babysitter (should be Muslim)—21 years; dressmaker—30 years; salesman for textiles and ladies wear apparel shops—40 years; barber—35 years; physical therapist—35 years; family driver—21 years, and male worker—21 years.
Consul Faisal H. Al-Kahtani, head of the consular section of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Manila, said the new age limit would take effect immediately and would be strictly enforced.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Saudi backs RP efforts to increase wages of maids
By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: March 05, 2008
MANILA, Philippines -- A recruitment regulatory body in Saudi Arabia supports the Philippine government’s efforts to improve the plight of Filipino household workers, including the plan to raise their monthly wages from US$200 to US$400, Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said Wednesday.
In a press statement, Brion said the Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom) now supports the package of reforms being pushed by the Department of Labor and Employment.
Brion said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in the Saudi capital Riyadh successfully promoted the new policy for domestics despite opposition by employers and employment agencies in the kingdom.
POLO-Riyadh received the statement of support from Sanarcom Chairman Saad N. Al Baddah. The committee is an affiliate of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Brion said Sanarcom’s support also shows that many Saudis still prefer Filipino skills and are willing to hire Filipino maids despite the availability of domestic workers from other countries.
Citing the report of Riyadh-based Labor Attache Rustico dela Fuente, Brion said Sanarcom was originally one of the organized manpower agencies in the Gulf region that opposed the reform package.
He said Sanarcom eventually gave its nod to the policy when Dela Fuente issued to Saad's recruitment agency the certificate of prequalification indicating the latter's consent to participate in implementing the new policy.
In December 2006, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) came out a package of welfare and protection reforms for household workers seeking a minimum salary of $400 monthly.
Applicants, however, were required to undergo periodic assessment.
The new POEA policy governing the deployment of household helpers was strongly opposed due to fears that it may push employers overseas to hire maids from other countries who were willing to work for lower wages.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: March 05, 2008
MANILA, Philippines -- A recruitment regulatory body in Saudi Arabia supports the Philippine government’s efforts to improve the plight of Filipino household workers, including the plan to raise their monthly wages from US$200 to US$400, Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said Wednesday.
In a press statement, Brion said the Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom) now supports the package of reforms being pushed by the Department of Labor and Employment.
Brion said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in the Saudi capital Riyadh successfully promoted the new policy for domestics despite opposition by employers and employment agencies in the kingdom.
POLO-Riyadh received the statement of support from Sanarcom Chairman Saad N. Al Baddah. The committee is an affiliate of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Brion said Sanarcom’s support also shows that many Saudis still prefer Filipino skills and are willing to hire Filipino maids despite the availability of domestic workers from other countries.
Citing the report of Riyadh-based Labor Attache Rustico dela Fuente, Brion said Sanarcom was originally one of the organized manpower agencies in the Gulf region that opposed the reform package.
He said Sanarcom eventually gave its nod to the policy when Dela Fuente issued to Saad's recruitment agency the certificate of prequalification indicating the latter's consent to participate in implementing the new policy.
In December 2006, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) came out a package of welfare and protection reforms for household workers seeking a minimum salary of $400 monthly.
Applicants, however, were required to undergo periodic assessment.
The new POEA policy governing the deployment of household helpers was strongly opposed due to fears that it may push employers overseas to hire maids from other countries who were willing to work for lower wages.
Saudi police nab Filipino maid
Arab News and INQUIRER.NET
Posted date: January 28, 2009
JEDDAH—Saudi police arrested a Filipina housemaid who allegedly stole cash and jewelry worth SR180,000 from her employer in the eastern province before fleeing here.
The Filipina traveled to the city by road avoiding checkpoints, said Jeddah police spokesman Colonel Misfar Al-Juaid.
“She traveled by different cars and buses hoping police would not find her. She hoped to find a job in Jeddah as a housemaid and planned to go back to the Philippines at the first opportunity,” he said.
“Detectives investigating the case traced her here,” he said, adding the woman was given shelter by her compatriots in the city.
He said the woman “confessed that she stole the valuables and cash from her employer’s house while the family was out to attend a function.”
Posted date: January 28, 2009
JEDDAH—Saudi police arrested a Filipina housemaid who allegedly stole cash and jewelry worth SR180,000 from her employer in the eastern province before fleeing here.
The Filipina traveled to the city by road avoiding checkpoints, said Jeddah police spokesman Colonel Misfar Al-Juaid.
“She traveled by different cars and buses hoping police would not find her. She hoped to find a job in Jeddah as a housemaid and planned to go back to the Philippines at the first opportunity,” he said.
“Detectives investigating the case traced her here,” he said, adding the woman was given shelter by her compatriots in the city.
He said the woman “confessed that she stole the valuables and cash from her employer’s house while the family was out to attend a function.”
Saudi religious police arrest Filipina nurse, male colleague
Arab News
Posted date: May 01, 2008
RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia’s religious police have arrested a Filipina nurse for sitting in a restaurant with a male colleague, a Philippine diplomat said.
Abigail Valdez, a nurse who works at the Riyadh Military Hospital, is being held at Al-Malaz Prison on charges of “immorality,” Philippine Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor told Arab News.
Villamor said the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh was trying to gain access to Valdez, who was arrested by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice on Monday evening for being with an unrelated man, a taboo in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom.
But Vice Consul Gerardo P. Abiog, who is in charge of the embassy’s Assistance to Nationals Section, said Filipino embassy officials who went to see Valdez were denied access by Saudi authorities.
“She would be released if the hospital (where she works) intervenes. She’s still in jail,” said Abiog, adding that prison authorities said they needed the approval of senior authorities.
“In the past, Riyadh Military Hospital has not intervened in such a case, saying the legal system should prevail,” he said. “I don’t think she has been allowed contact with anyone. Even we at the embassy are having difficulty trying to see and talk to her.”
The embassy official said that in such cases, it first investigates the incident and then tries talking to the person’s employer to get them bail out the individual. “However, we cannot force the employer if they do not want to act,” Abiog said.
Unrelated men and women caught dining at a Saudi restaurant would normally be sentenced to four months in jail and 100 lashes. The same punishment applies to a man and a woman caught in a state of seclusion (khulwa).
Women in Saudi Arabia, which applies a rigorous doctrine of Islam known as Wahhabism, face a host of constraints, including a ban on driving. They are forced to cover from head to toe in public, and cannot mix with men other than relatives or travel without written permission from their male guardian.
Valdez’s male colleague, who is of a Western nationality, was released several hours after being taken to a commission center and then to a police station. The man, who asked his name not be published, had his feet shackled when he resisted arrest.
“I am not going to play stupid here,” he told Arab News when asked about his knowledge of the Kingdom’s rules.
“Every country in the world allows access to a legal representative once arresting procedures take place. Here you can get arrested and thrown into jail without anyone knowing,” he said.
He added that with shackles on his feet the commission members forced him out of the restaurant by his belt and into a vehicle, without being shown any identity or an opportunity to contact a lawyer.
“At one point, I even told other Westerners in the restaurant whether they could believe what was happening to me as I was in shackles, but none of them cared to even look me in the eye,” he added.
The man said he was separated from the Filipino nurse once they reached the commission’s center. “She sent me a text message from her phone saying she was being taken to Al-Malaz Prison and that she was freaking out. That was the last I heard from her,” he said.
He added that Valdez did not deserve such treatment, especially since she had been treating Saudis for over a decade.
“She is a person who has served your own Saudi mothers and fathers for over 12 years,” he said. “She doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment.”
In February, a businesswoman was detained and strip-searched by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting in a Starbucks coffee shop with an unrelated man.
The incident came just days after a UN report blasted the Muslim kingdom for widespread discrimination against women and as a UN expert on women's rights began a visit to the country.
Saudi Arabia's 5,000-strong religious police have recently been investigated over a number of deaths that occurred while they raided homes or kept people in custody. Raid Qusti, Arab News with INQUIRER.net, and Agence France-Presse
Posted date: May 01, 2008
RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia’s religious police have arrested a Filipina nurse for sitting in a restaurant with a male colleague, a Philippine diplomat said.
Abigail Valdez, a nurse who works at the Riyadh Military Hospital, is being held at Al-Malaz Prison on charges of “immorality,” Philippine Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor told Arab News.
Villamor said the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh was trying to gain access to Valdez, who was arrested by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice on Monday evening for being with an unrelated man, a taboo in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom.
But Vice Consul Gerardo P. Abiog, who is in charge of the embassy’s Assistance to Nationals Section, said Filipino embassy officials who went to see Valdez were denied access by Saudi authorities.
“She would be released if the hospital (where she works) intervenes. She’s still in jail,” said Abiog, adding that prison authorities said they needed the approval of senior authorities.
“In the past, Riyadh Military Hospital has not intervened in such a case, saying the legal system should prevail,” he said. “I don’t think she has been allowed contact with anyone. Even we at the embassy are having difficulty trying to see and talk to her.”
The embassy official said that in such cases, it first investigates the incident and then tries talking to the person’s employer to get them bail out the individual. “However, we cannot force the employer if they do not want to act,” Abiog said.
Unrelated men and women caught dining at a Saudi restaurant would normally be sentenced to four months in jail and 100 lashes. The same punishment applies to a man and a woman caught in a state of seclusion (khulwa).
Women in Saudi Arabia, which applies a rigorous doctrine of Islam known as Wahhabism, face a host of constraints, including a ban on driving. They are forced to cover from head to toe in public, and cannot mix with men other than relatives or travel without written permission from their male guardian.
Valdez’s male colleague, who is of a Western nationality, was released several hours after being taken to a commission center and then to a police station. The man, who asked his name not be published, had his feet shackled when he resisted arrest.
“I am not going to play stupid here,” he told Arab News when asked about his knowledge of the Kingdom’s rules.
“Every country in the world allows access to a legal representative once arresting procedures take place. Here you can get arrested and thrown into jail without anyone knowing,” he said.
He added that with shackles on his feet the commission members forced him out of the restaurant by his belt and into a vehicle, without being shown any identity or an opportunity to contact a lawyer.
“At one point, I even told other Westerners in the restaurant whether they could believe what was happening to me as I was in shackles, but none of them cared to even look me in the eye,” he added.
The man said he was separated from the Filipino nurse once they reached the commission’s center. “She sent me a text message from her phone saying she was being taken to Al-Malaz Prison and that she was freaking out. That was the last I heard from her,” he said.
He added that Valdez did not deserve such treatment, especially since she had been treating Saudis for over a decade.
“She is a person who has served your own Saudi mothers and fathers for over 12 years,” he said. “She doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment.”
In February, a businesswoman was detained and strip-searched by Saudi Arabia's religious police for sitting in a Starbucks coffee shop with an unrelated man.
The incident came just days after a UN report blasted the Muslim kingdom for widespread discrimination against women and as a UN expert on women's rights began a visit to the country.
Saudi Arabia's 5,000-strong religious police have recently been investigated over a number of deaths that occurred while they raided homes or kept people in custody. Raid Qusti, Arab News with INQUIRER.net, and Agence France-Presse
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Arroyo: Saudi OFWs’ jobs ‘safe’
By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Posted date: February 03, 2009
MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assured Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia that their jobs are “safe” despite the world financial crisis, and that her government is prepared to assist overseas workers who may be laid off in other parts of the world.
“Dito sa Saudi ang pinakamalaking expatriate Filipino community sa buong mundo. Gusto kong tiyakin na matatg ang trabaho ninyo dito sa kabila ng pandaigdigang krisis sa ekonomiya, dahil may mga kababayang nawawalan ng trabaho sa ibat-ibang bansa. [The biggest expatriate Filipino community in the world is in Saudi. I want to assure you that your jobs are secure here, because in other parts of the world, our countrymen are losing their jobs],” Arroyo said in a speech before the Filipino community in Riyadh.
Arroyo and her party made a brief stop in Saudi Arabia from Italy, before proceeding to Bahrain for an official visit.
“Sa mga panahong ito na nanunubok sa mga expatriates, ang inyong pamahalaan ay hindi natutulog [During these trying times for our expatriates, your government is not sleeping on the job],” she said.
“For government, it is now payback time. The heroic efforts of the expatriate workers will not go unreciprocated. A program of full reciprocity shall be carried out to help those who lose their jobs,” she said.
Arroyo said the government has set up a P1-billion fund for microfinance loans for retrenched overseas Filipino workers.
The Department of Labor will also help retrenched OFWs find news jobs abroad, Arroyo said, adding that government has started a “marketing blitz” to look for more job overseas opportunities.
Filipino, Yemeni beheaded for Saudi murders
33 other OFWs on death row
By Cynthia Balana
INQUIRER.net Agence France-Presse Inquirer
Posted date: June 13, 2007
RIYADH -- A Filipino and a Yemeni were beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for separate murders, the interior ministry said, adding to a number of executions already more than double that of 2006.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that Filipino Reynaldo Cortez, 41, was executed in Riyadh for stabbing to death a Pakistani driver.
In an interview, Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Affairs Esteban Conejos said Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Antonio Villamor called up to confirm the execution of at 2 p.m. Manila time.
Citing DFA statistics, the Filipino migrant advocacy group Migrante said in a statement that 33 other overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), two of them women, are still on death row.
Yemeni Yassin bin Saleh Abdu Ahmed was decapitated in the southern Jizan region after using a pickaxe to kill and then rob a Saudi man, a statement from the Saudi ministry carried by SPA state news agency said.
The beheadings bring to 94 the number of executions announced by the Saudi government so far this year.
In 2006 at least 37 people were executed, while 83 were put to death in 2005 and 35 the year before, according to Agence France-Presse tallies based on official statements.
Executions are usually carried out in public in Saudi Arabia, which applies a strict form of sharia, or Islamic law. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty.
The death sentence on Cortez, who left behind a wife and six children in Guagua, Pampanga, was carried out after the victim’s family rejected with finality the offer of 100,000 Saudi rials as blood money and insisted his beheading.
"In court hearings, Cortez said he was trying to defend himself from possible sexual assault and that was what the Philippine embassy insisted during the negotiations for blood money," Conejos said.
Cortez, a welder at the Al-Allah Car Workshop in Riyadh’s Sinaya District, said the Pakistani had tried to rape him. Earlier reports said Saudi Arabian police shot Cortez twice in the left foot even after he surrendered.
In December 2003, Judge Mohammad Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh and two other judges of the Riyadh Grand Court found Cortez guilty of the charge of murder and frustrated murder, and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment and 1,000 lashes.
Cortez' lawyers immediately filed an appeal in the Riyadh Appellate Court. On November 27, 2004, the court, on hearing his claim that he had killed the taxi driver in an act of self-defense, reduced his jail sentence to 10 years.
But a Riyadh high court sentenced Cortez to death on May 30, 2005.
Conejos said the embassy negotiated with the family of the victim twice--first in October 2005 and the other in January 2006. Both efforts failed.
He said that the embassy then turned to the victim's brother who is also working in Riyadh for consideration, but the brother ignored the offer.
Conejos said the embassy then hired a Pakistani professional negotiator to convince the family of the victims but to no avail.
Migrante noted that the beheading of Cortez happened during Migrants Month, declared by the Philippine government.
The statement said that, “weeks before his death, Rey sent Migrante International chairperson Connie Bragas-Regalado text messages saying that unless the Philippine government acted on his case, he will surely be executed.”
“Kapag di talaga inasikaso ng ating gobyerno ang kaso ko, talagang mapuputulan ako ng ulo. Kasi ayaw talaga ako patawarin ng pamily [If the Philippine government doesn’t take action regarding my case, I will really be beheaded because the family does not want to forgive me],” the text message Cortez sent to Regalado on May 10 said.
Migrante said Cortez was the fifth OFW executed abroad under the Arroyo administration.
In March 2005, Sergio Aldana, Antonio Alvesa, Wilfredo Bautista and Miguel Fernandez were also beheaded in Saudi Arabia.
Migrante International said other OFWs still on death row in Saudi Arabia include Rodelio Lanuza, Idan Tejano, Marjana Andal Sakilan. Marilou Ranario is on death row in Kuwait.
Conejos said he had instructed the embassy to work for the return of Cortez' remains to the Philippines.
OFWs in Saudi anxious as crisis bites
By Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: January 27, 2009
MANILA, Philippines—Overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia are becoming increasingly worried about their job security after a local labor official there reportedly advised companies affected by the global financial crisis to sack their foreign workers first.
Migrante-Middle East said local newspapers on Monday quoted the head of the Saudi labor office in the Eastern Province Muhammad al-Hamdan as saying that the government labor office has instructed companies to start with foreigners first if they have to sack employees.
“Even the Saudi government is now wary of the effect of the global financial crisis and thus come up with such a protective measure -- their nationals will be the last to be sacked in their jobs, foreign workers first to include OFWs," Riyadh-based Migrante-ME regional coordinator Monterona said in a statement e-mailed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The Eastern Province (Ash-Sharqiyah) is Saudi Arabia’s largest province. The kingdom’s main oil and gas fields are mostly located in the province, onshore and offshore.
Monterona said while economists believed that the Middle East will be the least affected by the global financial crisis, there are several companies in Saudi Arabia whose profits plunged by as much as 90 percent last year as a result of the falling prices of petroleum and the credit crunch.
He said major Eastern Province-based companies are also affected, such as the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chemicals, fertilizers, plastics and metals, reported as much as 95 percent decline in fourth quarter earnings last year.
As indicated in a report on its website (www.sabic.com), Sabic reported a net profit of 311 million riyals in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with 6.87 billion riyals in the same period last year. The company said its overall net profits in 2008 amounted 22 billion riyals, about 19 percent lower than 2007’s 27 billion riyals.
Monterona said there is a “considerable” number of Filipinos employed at Sabic, adding, “Once this company decided to terminate its workers and staff due to the global financial crisis, we do hope and pray that our fellow OFWs there would not be the first to be terminated.”
“The ‘sack-expats first’ policy looming in Saudi Arabia should be one scenario that the Arroyo administration must be ready to face,” the OFW leader said, adding that other Middle Eastern countries affected by the financial crisis might impose similar policies, too.
Meanwhile, Migrante-ME called on the government to fully disclose all claims made on, and beneficiaries of, the P250-million Filipino Expatriate Livelihood Support Fund (FELSF), offered for retrenched OFWs by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
“We want to be sure that the money will go through the intended beneficiaries and not to the pockets of corrupt officials or be used for early electioneering," Monterona said.
Migrante-ME added that an independent body, which would include church-based and migrants groups, could also be formed to look into the disbursement of funds.
On December 4, 2008, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed an administrative order that created a special livelihood program fund for returning expatriates. The OWWA contributed P100 million to the fund.
OWWA on Monday awarded the first four beneficiaries of the FELSF namely Lilia Camacho of Pasig City; Vedasto Marmol Jr. of Malabon City; Maria Garces of Tanza, Cavite; and Rose Ann Bucao of General Trias, Cavite.
OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said displaced OFWs could borrow up to P50,000 from OWWA to start a business or expand a livelihood project. The loan is available at low interest, no collateral, and payable over 24 months after a grace period of 90 days, interest-free.
Applications may be filed with the family welfare officer at the Regional Welfare Office of OWWA.
The latest weekly monitoring of the Department of Labor and Employment showed that some 5,000 OFWs have returned to the country as a direct result of the global financial crunch. These were OFWs terminated on or after October 15, 2008 due to closures or downsizing of their companies as a result of the crisis.
‘Pinoy Cinderella’ in Saudi builds Guagua mall, Pasay spa
By Emman Cena
Inquirer
07/12/07
HE could have stayed in the United States where his family is or in the burning deserts of Saudi Arabia to rake in more money. But Mike Bolos opts to stay home and walk the road less-traveled.
“I’ve had enough overseas. Life’s comfort is obviously there but I’d like to get old here,” Mike Bolos tells the Inquirer in an interview.
Turning 53, Bolos obviously had enjoyed the prime of his life toiling 25 years as an accountant and chief financial officer in several companies in Saudi.
He had all the best. But in 2005, he decided to return and settle where, he says, his heart is.
“I’d rather spend whatever earnings I have here,” says Bolos who has put up a spa center in Manila and a commercial building in his hometown, Guagua, Pampanga.
The spa which started in August, 2005 employs 18 women, whom he says could have ended as domestic helpers had they gone abroad.
“They were merely high school graduates but they earn here as much as P20,000 monthly as masseuse,” he adds.
The P60-million, 3-story commercial building, on one hand, is expected to be in full swing this month. It will house various establishments such as a dance studio, an Internet café, a 7-11 convenience store and a modern American-patterned dental clinic run by one of his children.
“The mall type building will be the center of life (in Guagua). This is my way of paying back the people I grew up with. This will be a one-stop shop,” he adds.
Formula for success
But the success of Bolos didn’t happen in the blink of an eye.
“I was good in numbers and they never failed me throughout. But of course, it was sheer determination, hard work and patience,” he says.
His is a classic Cinderella story. He climbed the corporate ladder from being an ordinary Accounting board passer.
It was his brother who was looking for a job abroad but it was Bolos who was given the chance.
At 21, he worked as an accountant in a travel agency in Riyadh where he stayed for two years. He later moved to a health care company, the Gama Services Ltd., where he spent 23 years. He left Gama as corporate assistant comptroller.
At an early age, Mike learned how to juggle work with academics as business administration student at the University of the East.
But the hard times didn’t stop him from dreaming of a brighter life for his family. It was actually one of the goading forces behind his success.
He graduated high school valedictorian which qualified him for a business course at the University of Santo Tomas.
But after a year in UST, he decided to transfer to the University of the East where schedules were more suitable to him as a working student. After graduating and passing the CPA boards, he left the country in 1980.
He also had his own family to miss, being married to a fellow Kapampangan at an early age. “My first two years were miserable because I had no idea of the culture of the place. I was young and was thinking that things are done as they were done in the Philippines.”
But he eventually learned the ropes, he says. He later learned how to throw his hat into the fray, so to speak. He performed well ahead of his co-workers. He started earning good money, was provided free house and car by the company. “Everything was free. A lot of freebies. So my monthly check goes to my family tax-free,” he recalls. In fact, he admits, he was one of the highest paid Filipinos in Saudi at that time.
Children far from me
“Given a chance I would have tried to work out my relationship with my children. They grew up far from me. We’ve gone on our ways,” Bolos says.
Two of his kids are now in the US. Michelle, the eldest has a family of her own while Michael, 20, is studying law in Chicago. The middle child, Madelaine, is helping him run the family business in Guagua.
Business secret
Asked his business secret, Bolos could only say, “There are a lot of opportunities here. But the sad part is that the money that Filipinos work hard for are going to the hands of the rich people, most of them foreigners.”
These days, Bolos says he gets himself busy by doing the rounds of his businesses. He rarely gets rest days. “I don’t even have time to watch TV. I am always in front of my computer. I wake up at 8 a.m. to check e-mails then my day ends at about 3 a.m.”
“Until I get my team in place then I’d finally take a break,” he says. He is currently hiring people to man his commercial center in Guagua. “I’m happy but not content. I have a lot more things that I’ve wanted to do but not for myself though.”
Did he ever think of running for public office? “Yes, I’ve received feedback from some of my town mates. But it’s not really my turf. I’ll help out as a private individual.”
Saudi unified deal deferred until 'consensus' reached--POEA
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
Posted date: September 03, 2008
MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has confirmed the deferment of the implementation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's so-called unified contract scheme, its top official has said.
POEA Administrator Rosalinda Baldoz, however, clarified that the deferment was not only for the duration of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but until the Philippines and Saudi Arabia could discuss the rule and "reach a consensus" on what to do with it.
She said the labor department was pushing for its inclusion in the agenda of the Philippine-Saudi joint committee meeting in October to be hosted by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.
The new rule, which was supposed to be implemented September 1, was opposed by various groups because this would allow contract substitution.
Among those that opposed the scheme were the Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc., Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Senate President Manuel Villar.
The recruiters' group had asked Romulo, Roque, and Villar for help in stopping the implementation of the new rule, complaining about the lack of consultation.
Emmanuel Geslani, recruitment consultant, said the industry welcomed the deferment of the rule's implementation as this would "allow bilateral talks between the [Philippine] Department of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
He said Labor Secretary Roque should, in these talks, push for the scrapping of the scheme as this would result in "anomalous and unfair contracts for OFWs and the takeover of Arab-owned agencies of the industry."
In his letter to Ambassador Mohammed Ameen Mohammed Wali, Villar appealed for the recruitment industry and the OFWs. He said the scheme would make Saudi recruiters third-party visa facilitators, effectively impairing the ability of Filipino recruiters to directly process their recruits' visas.
The unified contract rule will require all Saudi-bound Filipino workers to go through Saudi-based recruitment agencies affiliated with the Saudi National Recruitment Committee (Sanarcom). It indicates that the employer-employee relationship between the Saudi employer and the
OFW will be governed by the contract presented by the Sanarcom member-agency.
This, Philippine-based recruiters and migrants workers groups said, would be tantamount to allowing contract substitution; Philippine rules require that work contracts are finalized before the OFW leaves for work abroad.
Villar said this Sanarcom contract was not approved by the POEA and recognized by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office.
"It may have no good effect but to promote the business motive of some recruiters in the agreement. It will only have the power to swing all contracts to dummy agencies here that are owned by Sanarcom agencies," he said in his letter to Ambassador Wali, quoting former POEA board member Exequiel Alunen.
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