OFW Party List Representative Marissa “Del Mar” Magsino personally welcomed eight repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 5, 2023 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
The eight OFWs were employed in Riyadh for a year and half as cleaners. In November 2022, their company illegally terminated their contracts without prior notice. The OFWs were stranded for six months in Riyadh in a company-provided shelter, however they had no income to finance their daily needs, including meals.
The OFWs reached out to the OFW Party List to help repatriate them back home. Recognizing the urgency and gravity of the situation, Magsino took action to facilitate the repatriation of the stranded OFWs. The necessary arrangements were coordinated with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Riyadh, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to bring the OFWs back to the Philippines.
Magsino calls upon the DMW to investigate the circumstances surrounding the termination of the OFWs’ contracts and to hold the responsible parties accountable.
“It is unacceptable that our OFWs were not only wrongly terminated, but were also left to fend for themselves while stranded for 6 months. We should pursue appropriate legal actions or administrative sanctions against the recruitment agency here in the Philippines that disregarded the welfare of our kababayans. They have a responsibility to look after the welfare of the workers they send abroad. Also, the erring foreign company must no longer be allowed to hire Filipino workers lest a similar incident occur,” remarked Magsino.
The repatriation assistance of the OFW Party List has so far helped to bring home 93 distressed OFWs since July 2022. This includes the repatriation of 35 fisherfolks last March 15 to 19, 2023 from Namibia who were victims of human trafficking and the medical repatriation of a terminally-ill OFW from Bahrain last February 24, 2023.
