Stranded OFWs receiving assorted goods from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) while Labor Attaché Jainal T. Rasul Jr. and Welfare Officer Amelito Adel look on. — SG photo Ronaldo Z .Concha Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — The Philippine Consulate in Jeddah has called on all undocumented Filipinos in the Kingdom seeking repatriation to surrender so they can be included for endorsement to the deportation center. Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay said on Monday that the ongoing daily endorsement of stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that started on Jan. 26 would end on Thursday. “We were informed that Thursday would be the last day Saudi immigration authorities (Jawazat) would accept our endorsement and I hope our fellows who want to avail this process will come and register for endorsement,” Garibay said. Since Jan. 26, more than 700 Filipinos including children were brought and endorsed to the new deportation center in Shumaisy to process their repatriation, according to Garibay. Most of the stranded OFWs brought to Shumaisy were those staying in a makeshift tent set up near the Philippine Consulate while others came from the consulate provided shelter in the Bawadi district. Most of the remaining stranded Filipinos that stayed at the so-called tent city were those who failed to correct their work status before an amnesty for illegal workers ended in November. To register so they could be included for endorsement, Garibay said the OFWs could visit the Assistance to Nationals Section on the second floor of the Philippine Consulate. Meanwhile, staff and officials of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration headed by new Labor Attaché Jainal T. Rasul Jr. distributed assorted goods to those remaining in the tent city. Rasul said the consulate was doing its best to help stranded OFWs go home to their family. According to him, the consulate is very happy that around a hundred Filipinos were endorsed to the new deportation center and hoped that all of the remaining stranded Filipinos would also be taken there to process their repatriation.
