DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd ordered a temporary ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) following reports the workers were made to pay for all Covid-related expenses upon their a rrival in the said oil-rich country.
Bello, in a memorandum address to Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) chief Bernard Olalia, said his order is 'effective immediately and until further notice.'
STRANDED OFWs headed to Dammam and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia on Philippine Airlines’ PR5682 and PR5654, respectively, are stranded at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Parañaque City on May 28, 2021. They were prevented from leaving the country by the Department of Labor and Employment, which suspended deployment amid reports that OFWs bound for the Gulf state are required by their employers and foreign recruitment agencies to shoulder the costs of the Covid-19 health and safety protocols and insurance coverage premium upon entry. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA
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