Repatriated OFWs seek recall of exec in Riyadh
Repatriated overseas Filipino workers trooped on Tuesday to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to demand the recall of a welfare officer in Riyadh, whom they accused of neglecting OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) in distress.
The workers, who were formerly caregivers of the Annasban Group, staged a protest in front of the OWWA office in Pasay City to demand that welfare officer Nestor Burayag, who heads the Repatriation and Assistance Division of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, be removed from his post.
“Dahil kay Burayag, umabot ng halos limang buwan ang aming pagdurusa. Sa halip na kami ay tulungan, lalo lamang niyang pinatitindi ang paghihirap na dinadanas namin sa kamay ng Annasban. At hanggang sa ngayon, ganito pa rin ang kanyang ginagawa sa mahigit 30 kababayan nating kababaihan na ipiniit ng aming employer," said Eppie Bellarma, one of the workers who lead a work stoppage to protest their former company’s alleged contract violations.
(Because of Burayag, our plight lasted for almost five months. Instead of helping us, he only aggravated our suffering under Annasban. To this date he has likewise been neglecting more than 30 female employees still detained by our employer.)
The women workers who participated in the protest were repatriated early this year after staging a work stoppage in October last year.
Their complaints include contract substitution, illegal salary reduction, deductions, non-issuance of benefits, and unsafe working environment.
They likewise accused their company of practically detaining them when they refused to go back to work.
More than 30 of their Filipino co-workers are set to suffer the same neglect they did under Burayag, they said.
They are now accusing Burayag of delaying their repatriation by failing to secure the required exit visas from Annasban management as well as failing to provide them food, water, and medicine during their stay inside a company-owned facility when they staged the work stoppage.
The workers also claimed Burayag forced them to pay 2,500 to 6,500 Saudi riyals (about P31,000 to P80,000) each for their repatriation, instead of negotiating with Annasban to waive deployment costs, shoulder their airfare, and provide compensation for supposedly violating their employment contracts.
One of the caregivers in the protest, Leonor Agorilla, said she contracted herpes zoster from one of the patients and requested repatriation, but Burayag allegedly refused to assist her.
According to the migrants rights group Migrante International, Agorilla was traumatized by her ordeal and is now undergoing psychiatric treatment.
The group likewise scored OWWA for failing to reprimand Annasban and work for banning the deployment of Filipino workers by the company.
“OWWA knows very well the notorious labor practice of Annasban. This has been going on for years and until now Administrator (Carmelita) Dimzon has not done any move to prevent our kababayans from falling prey to Annasban. She should begin by investigating the ill-conduct of Burayag and immediately submitting recommendations to (the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) to ban Annasban," said Migrante Chairperson Garry Martinez.
Migrante records show they have received similar complaints against the company from about 280 workers, including during the three years it was banned from recruiting Filipino workers due to previous complaints.
In an interview with GMANews.TV, Dimzon said she has yet to look at the workers’ complaints.
“I will have to look into it first. I’ll look at the demands of the workers, and also at the response of Burayag on the issue," said Dimzon, who returned to the country Wednesday from a conference in Rome.
Meanwhile, Burayag refused comment on the workers’ complaints when reached via phone.
“It would not be good for me to react on the issue because I am the one they are complaining against," he said in Filipino, adding his immediate supervisor Labor Attache Rustico Dela Fuente is the proper person to ask.
Repeated calls and text messages to the Dela Fuente were unanswered as of posting time.
The workers meanwhile said they are considering bringing the case against Burayag before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Annasban Group is a multimillion company involved in construction and development. It is reportedly owned by the “powerful" Al Nasban family, according to Migrante, which includes Engineer Fahad Al Nasban, who is also an immigration police official, as its director general.
Its recruitment arm, the Al Nasban Trading and Contracting, supplies labor manpower such as janitors, patient attendants, dental assistants, and caregivers to various government-run medical facilities and rehabilitation centers all over the Kingdom.
The non-government organization Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan estimates that the Annasban employs at least 800 Filipino workers. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV
The workers, who were formerly caregivers of the Annasban Group, staged a protest in front of the OWWA office in Pasay City to demand that welfare officer Nestor Burayag, who heads the Repatriation and Assistance Division of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, be removed from his post.
“Dahil kay Burayag, umabot ng halos limang buwan ang aming pagdurusa. Sa halip na kami ay tulungan, lalo lamang niyang pinatitindi ang paghihirap na dinadanas namin sa kamay ng Annasban. At hanggang sa ngayon, ganito pa rin ang kanyang ginagawa sa mahigit 30 kababayan nating kababaihan na ipiniit ng aming employer," said Eppie Bellarma, one of the workers who lead a work stoppage to protest their former company’s alleged contract violations.
(Because of Burayag, our plight lasted for almost five months. Instead of helping us, he only aggravated our suffering under Annasban. To this date he has likewise been neglecting more than 30 female employees still detained by our employer.)
The women workers who participated in the protest were repatriated early this year after staging a work stoppage in October last year.
Their complaints include contract substitution, illegal salary reduction, deductions, non-issuance of benefits, and unsafe working environment.
They likewise accused their company of practically detaining them when they refused to go back to work.
More than 30 of their Filipino co-workers are set to suffer the same neglect they did under Burayag, they said.
They are now accusing Burayag of delaying their repatriation by failing to secure the required exit visas from Annasban management as well as failing to provide them food, water, and medicine during their stay inside a company-owned facility when they staged the work stoppage.
The workers also claimed Burayag forced them to pay 2,500 to 6,500 Saudi riyals (about P31,000 to P80,000) each for their repatriation, instead of negotiating with Annasban to waive deployment costs, shoulder their airfare, and provide compensation for supposedly violating their employment contracts.
One of the caregivers in the protest, Leonor Agorilla, said she contracted herpes zoster from one of the patients and requested repatriation, but Burayag allegedly refused to assist her.
According to the migrants rights group Migrante International, Agorilla was traumatized by her ordeal and is now undergoing psychiatric treatment.
The group likewise scored OWWA for failing to reprimand Annasban and work for banning the deployment of Filipino workers by the company.
“OWWA knows very well the notorious labor practice of Annasban. This has been going on for years and until now Administrator (Carmelita) Dimzon has not done any move to prevent our kababayans from falling prey to Annasban. She should begin by investigating the ill-conduct of Burayag and immediately submitting recommendations to (the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration) to ban Annasban," said Migrante Chairperson Garry Martinez.
Migrante records show they have received similar complaints against the company from about 280 workers, including during the three years it was banned from recruiting Filipino workers due to previous complaints.
In an interview with GMANews.TV, Dimzon said she has yet to look at the workers’ complaints.
“I will have to look into it first. I’ll look at the demands of the workers, and also at the response of Burayag on the issue," said Dimzon, who returned to the country Wednesday from a conference in Rome.
Meanwhile, Burayag refused comment on the workers’ complaints when reached via phone.
“It would not be good for me to react on the issue because I am the one they are complaining against," he said in Filipino, adding his immediate supervisor Labor Attache Rustico Dela Fuente is the proper person to ask.
Repeated calls and text messages to the Dela Fuente were unanswered as of posting time.
The workers meanwhile said they are considering bringing the case against Burayag before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Annasban Group is a multimillion company involved in construction and development. It is reportedly owned by the “powerful" Al Nasban family, according to Migrante, which includes Engineer Fahad Al Nasban, who is also an immigration police official, as its director general.
Its recruitment arm, the Al Nasban Trading and Contracting, supplies labor manpower such as janitors, patient attendants, dental assistants, and caregivers to various government-run medical facilities and rehabilitation centers all over the Kingdom.
The non-government organization Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan estimates that the Annasban employs at least 800 Filipino workers. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV
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