Imperatives after OFW deaths

Hardly have we rejoiced over the 15-year prison term given the man behind Jullebee Ranara’s murder in Kuwait last year, when comes news about the suspicious death of two more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia.

On Monday, Sen. Raffy Tulfo told the Senate committee on migrant workers that the families of Jelyn Arguzon and Riolyn Sayson have approached him for help after the two OFWs were reported dead by their recruitment agencies. Tulfo said Arguzon’s husband, Jerriel Amatorio, had lost contact in June with his wife whose passport was reportedly taken by her employer. The OFW, Tulfo said, had previously informed her family that she was having trouble with the child of her employer who also allegedly limited contact between Arguzon and her family. Saudi officials eventually informed the family that Arguzon had died of natural causes in July.

Meanwhile, Sayson’s death was due to cardiac arrest, Saudi officials said, although Tulfo noted that she had passed all local health screenings prior to deployment. He also quoted her husband, Edilberto Sayson, as saying that his wife’s employer had limited her access to Wi-Fi, kept her locked in her room, and fed her only one meal a day. Riolyn reportedly feared her employers would harm her so she did not complain formally. While his wife’s main worry was her limited food provision, Edilberto said Riolyn had also complained of back pains and shortness of breath prior to her death.

Traditionally patriarchal

Arguzon and Sayson are the latest in the long list of OFWs who have suffered abuse, maltreatment, and death, often at the hands of their Middle East employers and family members. In 2020, nearly 5,000 cases of maltreatment of OFWs had been reported, majority of which came from the Middle East with 4,302 cases.

This is hardly surprising. Most countries in the Middle East are still traditionally patriarchal, where women are considered part of the household and thus subject to male guardianship and its rules. Inequalities in law have also led to women being treated as second-class citizens, with little or no protection from violence.

Despite the risk of abuse, however, Saudi Arabia remains the top destination country among OFWs, with 419,776 Filipinos deployed, according to 2023 data from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). The Philippine Statistics Authority meanwhile noted that of the estimated 1.96 million OFWs in 2022, 57.8 percent or 1.13 million are women, most of whom are engaged in domestic work.

With the safety of other OFWs at stake, Arguzon’s and Sayson’s tragic cases should prompt a deeper probe from both the Saudi government and the DMW. A good start would be an independent autopsy of their remains.

Lapses in protocol

Recruitment agencies that profit from OFW deployment must be held accountable as well especially since, as DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia noted, there were lapses in protocol in how Arguzon’s agency handled the situation. Tulfo also noted that the agency should have seen the red flags when Arguzon and her employer could no longer be contacted. These companies also have the responsibility to make sure that OFWs leave in good shape, and that no shortcuts are taken in their health screenings, the senator added. While the agencies involved in the death of the two OFWs have been suspended, sanctions against their negligence should include hefty fines and the cancellation of their license should abuses against OFWs occur repeatedly under their watch.

And how about a review of our bilateral agreements with host countries that, as pointed out earlier by OFW party list Rep. Marissa Magsino, are often “lacking explicit provisions relating to social security, equality of treatment, repatriation, and most importantly, on protocols governing the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses committed against OFWs, and on legal remedies available to them and their families …”

Better mechanisms

Under the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipino Act, the government must ensure the protection of OFWs through agreements with host countries, she added. The DMW should consider sending OFWs only to countries where we have strong bilateral relations.

Given Saudi Arabia’s less than exemplary record in treating migrant workers, the Philippines should pressure its government to come up with better mechanisms to protect OFWs, with the possibility of again suspending their deployment should such reforms be withheld. Recall that DMW had imposed a ban on sending OFWs to Saudi in 2021 because of the abuses and the reported billions of pesos worth of unpaid wages to Filipino construction workers who had lost their jobs in 2015 and 2016 when their companies declared bankruptcy. The ban was lifted in November 2022, but as of July 2024, some 2,000 of the 10,000 OFWs still have to collect on their claims.

With OFWs sending some $15 billion from January to May this year—a hefty sum propping up the economy—can our government afford to do any less for our modern day heroes?