84 out of 145 stranded Pinoys in Jeddah cleared for RP trip

MANILA, Philippines - Eighty-four of 145 stranded Filipino workers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have been cleared for repatriation and will probably start coming home by next week, acting Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said on Wednesday. The rest of the distressed Filipinos are under documentation process for the issuance of their exit clearance, said Roque, who concurrently serves as administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. “Naipadala na ang pera na pambili ng (airline) tickets. Aantayin na lang na mai-book sila para makauwi na sila by batches," the acting labor chief told GMANews.TV. “Mainit na ngayon doon kaya gusto ko rin na makauwi na sila." “The soonest possible time iuuwi natin sila. Maybe the first batch may be coming late this week or early April, depende kapag naikuha na sila ng flight," he assured. The remaining 61 stranded Filipinos will have to wait until the DFA completes their documentation, like securing exit visas before they can be repatriated. “Yung 84 na mauunang uuwi clear na sila. ‘Yung maiiwan may problema sa papel pero ginagawan na sila ng paraan," Roque assured. He admitted that the cause of the delays is getting the exit clearance from the immigration of Saudi Arabia since the authorities there wanted to make sure that the Filipinos have no pending cases before they are issued exit clearance or visa. “Ticket is the least problem, the biggest problem is getting them cleared by the Saudi Arabia immigration baka kasi me kaso na pending," Roque explained. Most of the stranded Filipinos ran away from their employers for various reasons, including delayed, reduced or non-payment of salaries, contract substitution, physical abuse, and other forms of mistreatment. Roque said based on the information given to him by Nestor Burayag, officer in charge of the OWWA repatriation and assistance program, welfare officers in Jeddah are having a hard to book the Filipinos on flights to the Philippines. Children, women, the sick and elderly among the stranded Filipinos will be given priority in the repatriation booking, Roque said. It was learned that a number of the Filipinos have been getting sick at the cramped deportation center in Jeddah. The Filipinos initially stayed under a bridge in Al Khandara for weeks in January, then moved under a nearby flyover where they put up tents. Sometime in February, some of them were picked up by immigration police and brought to the deportation center. More than 70 who were left behind under the flyover decided to move to the consulate grounds where they stayed for days until they were transferred to the deportation center when they agreed to go through the legal process of repatriation. Many of the Filipinos, particularly those who ran away from their employers, initially refused to give their personal details to labor officers such as their real names and their employers because they fear being sent back to their jobsites or be sued by their employers that could put them at risk of detention on trumped up charges. The militant Migrante International picketed the Department of Foreign Affairs offices in Pasay City Wednesday morning to demand the recall and investigation of Philippine Ambassador Antonio Villamor in Riyadh and Consul General Ezzedin Tago in Jeddah over what they viewed as incompetence in handling the cases of the stranded Filipinos. Some of the stranded Filipinos who had returned to the country joined the protest action “We are incensed by the way our embassy officials allow OFWs to suffer deplorable conditions. Their neglect of Filipino citizens is outrageous and we will not let it pass," declared Connie Bragas-Regalado, chairman of Migrante Internation. “We commit to pursuing all avenues, including upcoming Senate hearings on negligent officials abroad, to ensure Ambassador Antonio Villamor, Consul General Ezzedin Tago and other inutile officials are recalled and investigated for criminally neglecting and duping stranded OFWs. Their arrogance and hypocrisy is shameful and shocking," she vowed. “It’s also disgraceful that this type of criminal neglect is condoned and propagated by no less than Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, down to the Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Undersecretary Esteban Conejos and consular officials overseas. As such, we witness yet again how the so-called assistance to OFWs is limited to press releases and tokenism," the militant migrant leader said. Roque simply shrugged off the statements of the Migrante leader, and those who spoke at the protest rally. “Probably they are not aware of the development in Jeddah," the acting labor chief said. According to him, the Department of Labor and Employment and OWWA have been taking care of the repatriation of the documented Filipinos while the DFA handles the undocumented ones. – GMANews.TV