Hontiveros raises Qatar OFW woes at Senate budget debates
November 14, 2024
Hontiveros raises Qatar OFW woes at Senate budget debates
Senator Risa Hontiveros brought to the Senate floor complaints raised by overseas Filipino workers during her recent visit to Qatar, scoring commitments from the Department of Migrant Workers that it will assist distressed OFWs in the Middle Eastern country.
During the early hours of Wednesday, Hontiveros raised that OFWs in Qatar whose contracts have ended have yet to receive their end-of-service benefits.
"Mayroon po akong isang na-meet doon na pitong taon na pong hinahabol ang end-of-service benefits niya. Sabik na sabik na siyang makauwi at dito na lang maghanap-buhay, pero hindi pa niya magawa dahil nagpapaaral pa siya ng anak," Hontiveros said.
Hontiveros learned during her visit to Qatar last month that some companies and sponsors are hesitant to release workers' end-of-service benefits and may also charge their workers with absconding or fleeing which could disqualify them from receiving end-of-service benefits and get them deported.
As OFWs fear that their employers might get back at them, they no longer file complaints so they can claim their end-of-service benefits.
The senator also brought up that distressed male OFWs do not have temporary shelters to stay at as they wait for their labor complaints to be resolved unlike their female counterparts.
"'Yung mga male Filipinos na walang shelter, 'di makauwi kahit pagkatapos maubos yung ibinigay sa kanilang financial assistance ng DMW dahil hinihintay at hinahabol pa nila yung kanilang end-0f-service benefits," Hontiveros said.
In response, the DMW, through its budget sponsor Senator Joel Villanueva, said that it has provided financial assistance to OFWs to claim their end-of-service benefits and committed to assist migrant workers in filing and resolving their claims.
The DMW also said that the Qatar Ministry of Labor has committed to implement a standard employment contract for household service workers, which stipulates a standard salary rate and other benefits.
"Bagong bayani nga ang ating mga OFW, pero hindi naman ibig sabihin nito na dapat mga martir din silang magtitiis sa hirap. It is just right that the DMW extends all the help that it can give to these distressed migrant workers so they can receive all the benefits that they are entitled to," Hontiveros said.
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