RP files complaint vs Saudi employer of comatose OFW

Philippine authorities in Saudi Arabia have filed a complaint against the employer of a overseas Filipino worker who went comatose since 2007. The Philippine Consulate General said Atif Kurdi failed to repatriate Augusto Butaran, who remains at a hospital in Taif. "Case officer Liza Masa recently filed the complaint with the commission. To make it direct, we requested Butaran’s son Joseph [to] sign the complaint," Philippine Consul General Ezzedin Tago said on Saudi news site Arab News. The complaint was lodged before the Human Rights Commission’s office in Riyadh, Arab News reported. Joseph, 27, applied for work with the Abu Shakra Restaurant in Jeddah so he can stay close to his father, who suffered a heart attack in July 2007. Butaran had worked for nearly 20 years at the National Printing Press, which has since closed down. Kurdi and his family are now staying in Jeddah. The consulate had earlier lodged a complaint with the police in Salamah district in Taif. Officers called Kurdi, who promised that Butaran would be repatriated. When he did not fulfill his promise, the consulate told Masa to file the complaint in accordance with the wishes of Butaran’s wife. Butaran’s wife talked to Philippine Ambassador Antonio Villamor about her husband’s plight on June 21. “We are now waiting for feedback from the Human Rights Commission regarding what the former employer has said," Masa said. Kurdi told the consulate earlier he would give the SR31,000 (P372,590) needed for his former employee’s repatriation. The amount would cover a plane ticket for a nurse who would accompany Butaran to his hometown of Kawit in Cavite province. Butaran is also due to receive SR15,000 (P180,285) in benefits and unpaid salaries. But Kurdi has had difficulty raising the amount. “The employer had merely been making empty promises, saying that his brother Aiman would coordinate with the consulate regarding the repatriation of Jun [Butaran]. His brother had visited the consulate once or twice. But nothing substantial was accomplished as far as Jun’s repatriation is concerned," Butaran’s wife said. She added Butaran’s passport had also expired, although the consulate later validated it. “We don’t know how many more times it will be validated until Atif Kurdi makes good on his promise. He also promised that he’d renew Jun’s iqama [permanent residency status] but I am not sure if he has done it," she said.—JV, GMANews.TV