The Saudi Government has deported 20 ‘moonlighting’ Filipino workers.
20 Overseas Filipino Workers were deported by the Saudi Arabia Government after they were caught having other works aside from their regular jobs.
Many Filipinos have decided to work abroad as the employment opportunities in the country seems limited. Most OFWs have agreed to work in other nations so they can earn better and be able to provide their families’ needs.
Almost every OFW’s first and great challenge is being away from his or her families. The longing can go on for years depending on the contract of the employment. However, not everyone who have tried their fate abroad landed on a good situation.
Some reports, usually in social media, entail about the story of OFWs who were starving abroad and were jobless. Some of them were not accommodated properly by their recruiting agency and they arrived there with no work that awaits for them.
Aside from the longing and the risks that OFWs have to take, they must also learn to adjust and abide by the policies of another nation as the country might have rules and regulations that are strangers in one’s native land.
Recently, a news report in GMA News Online stated that 20 Filipino workers were deported by the government of Saudi Arabia for ‘moonlighting’.
‘Moonlighting’ refers to having another work aside from the regular job that a person has. According to the news report, the practice of having other works aside from your regular job is strictly prohibited in the Kingdom.
According to the head of Assistance to Nationals Section of the Philippine Consulate in Saudi Arabia, Vice Consul Alex Estomo, as he has expressed to GMA News Online, some of the 20 ‘moonlighting’ Filipino workers that were deported by the Saudi Government have fled from their regular employers.
The Saudi Ministry of Labor officers caught the Filipino workers working illegally during a surprise inspection in a massage parlor last month. The said massage parlor where they were working was close to the Philippine Consulate.
Based on the report, the Filipino workers were deported right away after their travel files were processed. Furthermore, the Vice Consul expressed that the end-of-service benefits of some of the OFWs were forfeited as they have not abide on Saudi’s labor law.
Estomo gave an advice to the Filipino workers in the Kingdom to be obedient to all the rules and regulations of the place as disobeying it might really cost a lot.