MANILA: On his first official trip abroad, Philippine Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III will meet with representatives of stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia.
Bello will assess the needs of the distressed OFWs during his brief visit in Riyadh, reported Manila Bulletin.
“We will look into the status of our stranded OFWs there and determine the possible aid we could extend to them like food,” Bello was quoted as saying.
Bello reportedly left for KSA on Thursday evening and is expected to be back in the country by Sunday.
He was accompanied by ACTS OFW Party-List Representative Aniceto Bertiz, Labor Undersecretary Ciriaco Lagunzad, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director-General Guiling Mamondong and other government officials, the report said.
Bello’s contingent will also be checking if the large Saudi companies, which were forced to retrench migrant employees due to financial woes, were able to meet their obligations to affected OFWs, said the news portal.
Last March, Lagunzad reportedly said they will coordinate with the Philippine embassy in filing the necessary cases against the Saudi firms, which will fail to do so.
Migrante International Chairperson Garry Martinez, who met with Bello last Wednesday, disclosed the labor official has agreed to talk with their regional coordinators from Riyadh and Jeddah.
“They will be the ones, who will convey to him the grievances of our stranded OFWs there,” Martinez was quoted as saying by Manila Bulletin.
“Our only request to him is to hold the talks outside the Philippine embassy so our kababayans could freely express their concerns,” he reportedly said.
