DMW: 1,204 checks processed for displaced Saudi OFWs --- By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA Integrated News

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Monday said over a thousand checks had been credited to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were displaced following the bankruptcy of their companies in Saudi Arabia. In a press briefing, DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac said 1,204 checks had been processed; 1,100 of which had been credited to the affected OFWs or were due for encashment. “That’s an increase. It was 843 when the President first announced this about a week ago. We’re up to 1,100 checks paid out. That covers around SAR57 million or USD15 million,” he said. The DMW expected more payments to be made in the coming days. Earlier this month, President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. disclosed that the displaced OFWs had started receiving compensation. In November 2022, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman allocated SAR2 billion for the unpaid salaries of 10,000 OFWs employed by construction companies that declared bankruptcy in 2015 and 2016. DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said that four Filipino workers were currently in the process of receiving checks coming from the bankruptcy proceedings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also said that the DMW would be signing a memorandum of agreement with LandBank to develop a special banking process to fast-track and streamline the processing of claims for the payees who have already died. “Another challenge that was also faced and addressed by this forthcoming memorandum of agreement is the discrepancy in the paying of checks. Papayagan ng LandBank na i-deposit ang mga cheke na nakapangalan sa mga workers na mali ang spelling o may konting discrepancy sa kanilang pangalan,” Olalia added. (LandBank would soon allow the deposit of checks among workers whose names were misspelled or had a slight discrepancy in their name.) He said the concerned DMW or Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) office would check if the payee with a discrepancy in his or her name was the same person named in the check. — DVM, GMA Integrated News

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