DOLE: 16 Mideast-bound Pinoys stranded in Singapore

At least 16 overseas Filipino workers bound for the Middle East were stranded in Singapore earlier this month after their agencies failed to confirm bookings for their connecting flights. The incident prompted the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to go after such recruiters and agencies. “The POEA had already assessed the incident and had issued summonses to the five recruitment agencies. We will require them to thoroughly explain why the bookings of the 16 workers need to have connecting flights. They need to satisfy us with a clear explanation and why they should not be penalized for infractions of the rules and regulations on overseas employment," Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said in an article on the DOLE website Friday. Baldoz said the DOLE is "working very hard" to prevent similar incidents by coordinating its efforts with all agencies concerned with protecting OFWs. Citing reports reaching her, Baldoz said Singapore police prevented the 16 from boarding their connecting flights to their final destinations. A report by Singapore-based Labor Attaché Rodolfo Sabulao said the first batch of eight OFWs on board budget airline JetStar arrived in Singapore on August 12. The first batch was bound for Abu Dhabi but prevented from boarding the connecting flight. Singapore authorities turned over the OFWs to Philippine Embassy officials for care and disposition. The Philippine Overseas Labor Office’s Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) in Singapore currently shelters the OFWs. Sabulao said based on the workers’ affidavits, police prevented the OFWs from boarding their connecting flight because their plane tickets were allegedly purchased by their agents in Manila using a stolen credit card. On the other hand, he said another batch of eight workers was similarly stranded in Singapore the next day, August 13, due to unconfirmed bookings. The second batch of eight workers was bound for Kuwait, Qatar, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. “Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways, the airline companies that flew them to Singapore, wanted them to present the credit card holder who booked them in Manila and purchased their tickets," Sabulao reported. Sabulao identified the agencies that deployed eight of the workers as Medrip International Philippines, Inc.; Agency Futuristic International (Artist) Promotion; Acclaimed One Manpower and Recruitment Service; PVE Placement Agency; and World Production International Manpower, all licensed by the POEA. He added this is not the first time that documented Filipino workers were stranded in Singapore. “In the past, there have been workers bound for overseas destinations who were stranded at the airport due to booking problems," he said.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV