ACTS OFW party-list representative John Bertiz reminded Filipino nurses bound to Saudi Arabia to not submit falsified documents to avoid landing in trouble in the Middle East country.
According to Bertiz, some 100 nurses have reached out to them to ask for help after being arrested and jailed after submitting falsified documents to be able to work in the Gulf state.
Bertiz warned aspiring nurses that alongside the hefty fine, they will also be deported back to the Philippines if proven guilty.
Most of the cases reported were from Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam.
The representative also blamed recruitment agencies for processing the fabricated papers.
“If the nurse for instance lacks the required duration of occupational experience, the dishonest recruiters themselves will produce the spurious papers, just so they can deploy [the nurse] and make money out of the job placement,” Bertiz said.
“Sasabihin nila sa nurse, ‘Kami na ang bahala dyan’ o kaya ‘Gagawan na lang namin ng paraan yan’,” he added.
Bertiz reacted to the issue following two cases of jailed Filipino nurses who pointed their fingers to their recruiters for the falsified requirements.
The Saudi Labor Ministry, he added, conducts rigorous checking of documents to prove the validity of the submitted requirements.
