Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello has expressed his dismay over the failure of Saudi Arabia to settle the PHP4.6 billion worth of unpaid wages to thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“Matagal nang pinangakuan ‘yong ating mga manggagawa. 11,000 po ‘yan, 2016 pa ‘yan, na bayaran ‘yong suweldo nila,” Bello said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
“Ilang pangako na ang sinabi sa amin na babayaran. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa nababayaran,” he added.
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Bello was referring to the OFWs who were repatriated to the Philippines in 2016. He announced in December last year that the payment of their salaries will be a Christmas gift to the affected workers.
Currently, at least 10,000 OFWs are stranded in the Philippines due to the prevailing deployment ban to Saudi Arabia.
The Philippine Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Bernard Olalia said the government imposed the suspension of deployment as both countries await the new guidelines for household workers.
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“The deployment suspension is still ongoing,” POEA chief Bernard Olalia said.
The country imposed the deployment suspension after the cases of abused OFWS by a retired Saudi general.
