Repatriated OFWs all praises for 'Presidente Digong'

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who arrived home months after they were laid off in Saudi Arabia were all praises for President Rodrigo Duterte, who met them at the airport on Wednesday.
The OFWs — 129 in total — are former employees of Mohammad Al-Mojil Group (MMG), one of the first companies to reduce the number of its foreign workers in 2014 as a result of the slump in oil prices.
Many of the OFWs have yet to receive their long overdue backpay or benefits from the construction firm, and are hopeful that the Duterte administration will fulfill its many promises of assistance to them.
One of them, Roberto Carserta, thanked the administration for addressing their plight.
"Pasalamat ako sa ating gobyerno," Carserta said. "May nagpakamatay na nga po sa kasama namin sa Saudi. Hindi na niya makayanan."
Teodoro Panangan, a structural foreman who joined MMG in 2005, believes strict orders from Duterte will expedite whatever plans are underway for retrenched OFWs.
"Gagawa sila ng paraan, na ilaban, dahil gusto nga ni Presidente Digong na ipaglalaban para makuha ang aming benepisyo," he said.
Optimism among those who arrived on Wednesday soared after Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, who was with Duterte in welcoming them, said the team sent to Saudi Arabia to work on their benefits will not come home until their mission is accomplished.
Four options
Panangan said the retrenched OFWs had three options while waiting for their pay if they cannot be transferred to other companies.

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