Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac is traveling to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in May.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Cacdac will tackle the unpaid claims for wages and other benefits of some 10,000 displaced overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whose companies went bankrupt from 2015 to 2016.
“I am due to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia next month. On our list of topics for discussion with our Saudi counterparts is the continuing disbursement of claims due our workers,” Cacdac said in a press conference.
Cacdac was appointed as ad interim DMW Secretary by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr last April 24, 2024.
“The visit is expected to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries further, even as it hopes to move the matter of the claims closer to completion,” the DMW explained.
Cacdac said that the Philippines and Saudi Arabia will be discussing the strengthening of institutional mechanisms ensuring fair, ethical, and safe recruitment and employment of OFWs and Saudi Arabia’s request for more Filipino workers to help in its ambitious Vision 2030 development program.
Over 10,000 OFWs, as well as thousands of other foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, lost their jobs after their companies declared bankruptcy and folded up between 2015 and 2016.
