BANGKOK, Thailand – Around 10,000 overseas Filipino workers who salaries were unpaid when their Saudi Arabian construction companies folded years back will finally get paid after the Saudi government pledged to shoulder the cost.

The Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) made the announcement on Friday, November 18, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperations (APEC) Summit in Bangkok.

Malacañang, citing DMW Secretary Susan Ople, said the deal was finalized a few days ago, ahead of the two leaders’ bilateral meeting in Thailand.

“The Crown Prince, His Royal Highness, announced and said that this was his gift – he really prepared for this and this was an agreement reached by the Saudi government just a few days ago,” said Ople in the Palace statement.

The “gift” from Prince Mohammed to Marcos ahead of their first meeting is a huge one – worth two billion Riyals (over P30.5 billion), in fact.

Saudi, in 2021, promised to pay P4.6 billion worth of unpaid salaries to Filipinos whose former companies went bankrupt. In a November 2022 report, the Philippine News Agency said Saudi had yet to fulfill that promise.

The 10,000 workers were employed in companies such as di OGer, MMG, the Bin Laden group, among others. These companies declared bankruptcy between 2015 and 2016, leaving their workers unpaid.

Marcos, after speaking to Prince Mohammed, said the Saudi government also promised the Philippines that it would implement an “insurance system,” so that workers whose companies are in the red would still receive their hard-earned wages.

The pledge to shoulder the payable salaries of displaced Filipino workers comes after the Philippines lifted its ban on the deployment of OFWs, including house helpers and constructions workers, to Saudi Arabia.

In November, Ople announced that after months of negotiations, Saudi agreed to create additional safeguards for workers, including the insurance system and allowing workers to switch employers in cases of abuse.

Saudi is among the top destinations of Filipino workers seeking employment abroad. More than 189,000 Filipinos were working in Saudi Arabia before the global lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. – Rappler.com