Arab News: 97 Distressed OFWs Get Plane Tickets From Governor’s Office

Arab News
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily

Saturday, 7, January, 2006 (07, Dhul Hijjah, 1426)

97 Distressed OFWs Get Plane Tickets From Governor’s Office
Arab News —

RIYADH, 7 January 2006 — Ninety-seven Filipino workers who have been staying at the Saudi Social Welfare Administration will soon be repatriated following the issuance of air tickets by the Riyadh Governorate, the Philippine Embassy announced yesterday.

Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla said he has instructed his staff to work overtime in processing the travel documents for submission to the immigration authorities for the immediate departure of the distressed workers. Immigration authorities have set this day as the deadline for the submission of the travel papers.

According to the embassy, many of the workers ran away from their sponsors, although some of them were endorsed by the employers themselves or by the police.

Ambassador Guinomla wrote to the Office of the Governor and expressed his gratitude to Prince Salman ibn Abdulaziz for his generosity and compassion for the Filipino workers.

A press statement by the embassy explained that workers endorsed to SSWA have 21 days within which to resolve their problems with their sponsors although the maximum number of days they can stay at the facility is 45 days.

Earlier this week, 13 female workers who have been detained at Riyadh’s Al-Nisa Jail have been deported to the Philippines.

The embassy said most of the 13 were charged with “infractions on the laws on morality.”

“One was accused of theft and another of production of illegal drinks,” said the embassy statement.

Reminders

Because of these cases, the embassy has asked Filipinos in the Kingdom to strictly observe local rules and laws and stay away from potential causes of problems.

The embassy yesterday also asked OFWs to think many times before signing guarantees for friends or relatives.

In another statement, the embassy warned that a number of workers are in trouble because of guarantees they have signed. It cited the case of one hospital worker who has to suffer for the consequences when the bills of a friend he guaranteed for treatment overshot his capability to pay.

Another case involved four hospital workers who guaranteed for their fellow worker who had to leave for the Philippines to attend the burial of her father.

Since the worker did not return, the hospital management is now collecting on the guarantee of the four workers.

Similar cases have also been reported in other places.

In Jeddah, one worker who acted as guarantor for a friend working as clerk in a bank ended up paying when his friend left for the Philippines and never returned. The guarantor found out later that the friend he trusted, who had a wife and two children in Quezon City, absconded with the wife of another worker.

OAV Registration

Meanwhile, the embassy said it is suspending the registration of overseas absentee voters from today to Jan. 15 in observance of the Haj holidays.

The temporary suspension has been approved by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila, said Ambassador Guinomla.

At the same time, Guinomla appealed to members of the Filipino community who are qualified to vote to register as soon as possible and not to wait for the deadline.

He lamented the “lackluster response” from the community, with only 156 having signed up so far since the registration started about four months ago.

Guinomla asked community organizations across the Kingdom to help in the registration campaign so that every qualified voter exercise their right to pick the Philippines’ next leaders come 2007.