Liza Maza calls for immediate repatriation of 19 distressed women OFWs

NP senatorial candidate Rep. Liza Maza called for the immediate repatriation of 19 distressed women workers unduly held in the Annasban company barracks in Abha, in southwestern Saudi Arabia.

"Lagpas 3 buwan na kami rito sa barracks, pero di pa rin kami napapa-uwi,” (We've been here in the barracks for more than 3 months now but we have yet to be repatraiated),” Maza quoted Monaliza Paje, 34 years old of Butuan City, as saying in an urgent message to Migrante International's Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona.

Paje's fellow co-workers are Susana de la Roca, Maribel Remetio, Vicky Jaruda, Mercy Santos, Rachel Baroy, Shiela Marie Barreto Ventura, Florencia Monte, Sarah Jane Abad, Elisa Mendoza, Margarita Viray, Normalia P. Daraid, Maileen Martinez, Anna Mae Comia, Sherhina Abdulla, Nemia Gallantes, Shirley G. Martinez, and Liezel A. Caballes.

They complained of their employer's breach of contract for not giving them the rightful salary, illegal deductions, working for more than 8 hours without overtime pay, and absence of any health insurance.

Paje, along with 18 companions working for Saudi-based Annasban Company, were forced to stop working after they could no longer bear the labor malpractices of the company. They were hired by Annasban as caregivers for various rehabilitation centers and were deployed by POEA-sponsored recruitment agencies in the Philippines such as UPPI, Saveway, Global, and Placewell.

“Migrante Middle East has already endorsed their case to the attention of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh who has jurisdiction over the case, but until now there is no clear response and action to their complaints,” Maza said.

"The distressed OFWs were even requesting for such basic necessities as food and water but the POLO-OWWA has not responded. Philippine authorities should be held responsible for this blantant disregard of our OFWs," Maza

Last January 2010, 5 caregivers have earlier decided to stop working with the same complaints against the same employer, the Annasban Company.

Four (4) of them have been at the company-barracks for more than 3 months now: Rolmar Castaneda, Jane Gerarman, Leonor Agorilla, Glory Barangan. One female worker, Marissa Andes, managed to run away from the job site is now in Philippine Embassy’s Bahay Kalinga in Riyadh.

Their employers are reportedly asking 5,000 saudi riyals each from the OFWs for deployment cost before they could be given an exit clearance.

Migrante International is representing the distress OFWs along with their relatives in Manila to settle the issue of the deployment cost but was told that even OWWA is still awaiting for the recruitment agencies to pay, hence causing the undue delay in repatriation. ###