Car designer in Saudi wants to go home

A housewife is calling on the Philippine government to help her husband and five of his work mates in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, return to the country.

ABS-CBN’s Dominic Almelor reported that vehicle designer Enrico Luga and his team of five are all illegally in Saudi Arabia, but their employer will not allow them to leave and is virtually holding them hostage.

Salgado started out as a designer of vehicles, cars, jeepneys, buses and trucks, and he displayed pictures of his original creations on the Internet.

His designs were noticed by an Arab businessman in August 2006 and commissioned Luga to design a special truck for him.

Armed with a business visa valid for six months, Luga and his design team of five hied off to Saudi Arabia. Upon the expiration of their visas, their employer would not let them leave, saying they did not have the proper work permits anyway.

Now, Luga claims their employer is telling them to finish six units of the special truck or die.

This has caused Luga’s wife, Elaine, to worry about her husband.

She said her husband and the other members of his team are now suffering from weak lungs.

Elaine also said although the case has reached the ears of the Department of Foreign Affairs, she is still appealing for immediate action on her husband’s case.

"Talagang hinihiling ko sa Presidente na mapauwi na sila agad -- maimpluwensiya ang Arabo (I am asking the President to help get them home immediately since the Arabs are very influential)," she said.

She added "lagi kong hinhiling na makauwi na sila – buhay ang importante (I am always hoping that they will finally come home, their lives are important)."

To those aspiring to work abroad, Elaine Luga said they should learn from what happened to her husband and his team. "Dapat talaga dumaan sa POEA, OWWA o DFA – madali silang masasagip (Your employment should always be coursed through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Department of Foreign Affairs so that they can easily be rescued).ABSCBN News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more