Statement: On Assistance Extended to 20 OFWs in Jeddah

02 October 2018 – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has been informed that 20 overseas Filipino workers in Jeddah are being assisted after they were ejected from their company-provided accommodations for refusing to work because of unpaid salaries and food allowance.

The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah said the 20 are now being taken care of at the Bahay Kalinga by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, which is now making arrangements for their repatriation in coordination with their Philippine recruitment agency.

Consul General Edgar Badajos said Labor Attaché Nasser Munder and Welfare Officer Yolanda Peñaranda immediately took custody of the 20 Filipinos who refused to report for work because they have not been paid their salaries and food allowance for the past two months.

The workers were recruited by a major Saudi recruitment agency, which later transferred them, upon their request, to their present company that assigned them to work as cleaners in Jeddah hospitals and residential homes. The company, however, failed to pay their salaries and food allowances. END