AS AN overseas Filipino worker who has spent the best and most productive years of my life away from the family, I find that Ceres Doyo’s column in the Inquirer (4/21/11) aptly portrayed the plight of a number of Filipino migrants. Here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there are so many stranded runaway OFWs who were abused and maltreated by their employers; many other OFWs are in jail without any legal assistance from the Philippine Embassy/Consulate, which shows how almost inutile our government is.
Sad to say the Saudi government regards us OFWs with contempt. (A case in point: in most government military hospitals, a Filipino nurse would receive a salary three times lower than a Malaysian nurse and four times less than a South African nurse; while Filipino nurses are housed in poor living conditions, Malaysian and South African nurses are accommodated in well-appointed Western style compounds with complete amenities).
Well, as the adage says, beggars can’t be choosers! Sadly, that is what’s happening to the Filipino race here in Saudi, although many of us remain thankful to the Saudi government for the job opportunities it opened to us.
—JOVY ABELLA,
jabella@fuchs.com.sa