SENATORS Leila M. de Lima and Sherwin T. Gatchalian on Sunday urged the government to also extend its assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, following the President’s recent pronouncements on a ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait.

Ms. De Lima urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to implement contingency plans for displaced OFWs in Qatar.

“The government should ensure that OFWs would be assisted in finding decent jobs back home or other overseas destinations, if not help them set up business and livelihood in the country,” she said in a statement.

She also asked the Senate to act on a resolution she filed last June calling for an assessment on the impact of Qatar’s diplomatic crisis on OFWs working in Arab countries. Over 600 Filipino lost their jobs at the time, according to DoLE, following Saudi Arabia and Bahrain’s severing relations with Qatar over its alleged support for Islamic extremist groups.

Mr. Gatchalian called on the government to look into the situation on Saudi Arabia where abuses among Filipino household service workers were also reported, and to consider ordering another OFW deployment ban.

“Every time we have complaints in Valenzuela City, it’s about abuse from employers. And most of them are domestic helpers. I also noticed that almost 100% of complaints came from the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,” the senator said in a radio interview.

He also cited reports that OFWs “by the thousands” were seeking refuge in Philippine embassies in Saudi Arabia but could not be repatriated immediately due to their pending cases or their passports being confiscated by their employers.

“There was one report of OFWs living in the embassy by the thousands. Most of them escaped from their employers because they were abused,” Mr. Gatchalian said, adding that it was time for a review of the deployment policy and the Philippines’ agreements with other countries, particularly on the protection of migrant workers.

“This is an important policy because if we do not have a bilateral agreement and the other country has no laws protecting migrant workers, we should not deploy OFWs there,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.

He also noted that the government should study its training and livelihood programs for the repatriated workers facing unemployment.

“I believe that, with the right training, right program, we can help them,” said Mr. Gatchalian, who heads the Senate committee on economic affairs.

Mr. Gatchalian said he plans to conduct hearing on this matter, together with Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva, who chairs the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development. “We will combine forces with Senator Joel of the Senate labor committee. We already discussed this because this is an economic and labor problem,” he said. — Camille A. Aguinaldo

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