The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) today released an update report on the department’s role in the Duterte government’s Humanitarian Mission to assist stranded Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The mission is led by Perlita V. Panganiban, and with her are Undersecretary for Operations and Programs Group (OPG) Vilma Cabrera and Assistant Secretary Hope V. Hervilla.

The report emphasizes  the following:

• One Hundred Twenty Seven (127) stranded OFWs from Mohammad Al Mojil Group  (MMG) in Al Khobar were repatriated today, August 31, 2016. The DSWD provided the expatriates with food allowance amounting to  12,700 in Saudi Riyals
• Inter-agency team in Riyadh continues to demonstrate teamwork in the  provision of  assistance to live-out OFWs from Saudi Oger and Saudi Bin Laden Company.  Eight hundred seventy six (876) have been served from August 28-29, 2016.
• The inter-agency in Riyadh reported 1, 1677 (55%) of the total 3039 who wanted to go home, 1,300 (42%) opted to stay and 62 (2%)   are seeking transfer. The Philippine Embassy has already submitted 792 applications for exit visa to the Ministry of Labor and 279 money claims to the Ministry of Interior.
• In Jeddah, Asec. Hervilla, in tandem with Consul General Pendosina Lomondot,  inter-agency team leader,  had a consultation dialogue with the Ministry of Labor   to clarify the process,  provisions and the implementation of the  Royal Order on the money claims  until the repatriation of the stranded OFWs of Saudi Oger and Bin Laden. The DSWD team is now augmenting manpower of the  Philippine Consulate in the  processing of documents of the OFWs  to be submitted to the Ministry of Labor.
• As of August 30, 2016, a total of 6,767 stranded OFWs were provided with assistance by DSWD Teams in Riyadh  with 2,856 (42%), Jeddah with 2,610 (39%) and Al Khobar with 1,301 (19%).

SERVICES RENDERED AND ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE:

Issues/concerns

1. Inter-agency coordination in Jeddah is crucial as efforts to process  the documents to be submitted to the Ministry of Labor have only begun to take shape. The DSWD team is augmenting the efforts of Philippine Consulate officials in preparing the documents for submission.
2. There is a significant number of undocumented women and distressed OFWs in various places in the Kingdom who are requesting for assistance but are not included in the Humanitarian Mission.
3. Four (4) women  who left their workplaces and sought the assistance of POLO-ERO were detained today on alleged complaint by their employer. DSWD has already provided basic assistance.
4. Participation of  inter-agency representatives is not maximized in reaching out to the stranded OFWs in Jeddah.
5. Indebtedness of OFWs are preventing them from availing their benefits in the Humanitarian Mission.
6. Even elderly OFWs want to transfer from other employers.
7. Other OFWs only want to avail of the provided assistance of the DSWD without going through other services by the inter-agencies.
8. There are other distressed OFWs from other companies not in the priority list of the Humanitarian Mission who are appealing for assistance from DSWD and other inter-agency groups involved in the mission.

Bring home stranded OFWs

DSWD Team Leader Panganiban said that inter-agency meetings are  necessary to clarify  issues and concerns for the day and to trace the root causes of difficulties encountered.

“We want to provide  synchronized  assistance to stranded OFWs,” she said. In the meantime, she said there was a need to continue the documentation efforts to monitor the status and whereabouts of OFWs using the data encoding system for factual statistics. She also said that there is a need to conduct regular feedback systems and  harmonization of data by inter-agencies in Jeddah and Al Khobar/Dammam.

“We also need to continue the provision of assistance to the distressed OFWs from other companies with similar concerns, but their cases must be turned over to Philippine Embassy/POLO for their appropriate action after the Humanitarian Mission,” she said.

Asec. Hervilla, in the meantime, said that efforts to address the extreme problems and difficulties being experienced by OFWs in the KSA should be continuous, and coordination between the Philippine government agencies as well OFW grassroots organizations should be encouraged.

“Where the Philippine government’s agencies are unable to reach, migrant groups are able to go. The assistance of groups such as Migrante International and Migrante-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Migrante-KSA) has been very valuable when it comes to helping our stranded kababayans. We want to help our stranded OFWs to be able to return home as soon as possible so they can be with their families and resume their normal lives. We can do this if government agencies and people’s organizations based in the Middle East work together and coordinate their efforts. More can be done this way,” she said. #