Repatriated OFWs file charges vs KSA firm, recruitment agency

“They did not treat us as their employees, they treated us as their slaves.”

By KATHRINA MANUEL AND LHEALYN VICTORIA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Ten workers of the Rajeh H. Almarri and Sons Co. (RHM) who were repatriated from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia filed charges of “constructive dismissal” against their former company and the recruitment agency Joseline International Manpower Corp. (JIMC).

“They did not treat us as their employees, they treated us as their slaves,” said Joeffrey Rosita one of the 10 RHM workers.

Rosita and 38 other OFWs complained of labor abuses by RHM and were repatriated from KSA in several batches in March. The 28 other workers agreed to settle with the JIMC, but the settlement amount is reportedly yet to be given.

The 10 workers, who complained of constructive illegal dismissal and demand their unpaid salaries, filed their case at the National Labor Relations Commission on May 7. Most of them started working with RHM in July 2014, and were repatriated on March 27 this year.

Constructive dismissal refers to the termination of employment, including “discrimination, insensibility, or disdain by an employer (that) becomes so unbearable on the part of the employees that it would foreclose any choice but to forego their continued employment,” the complaint said.

The complaint cites violations of Article 116 of the Labor Code of the Philippines that prohibits the withholding of wages and kickbacks. The withholding of the workers’ salaries resulted to their constructive dismissal, the complaint said.

Aside from the abuse of their employer, the RHM workers also complained of negligence on the part of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office-Overseas Workers Welfare Agency (POLO-OWWA). They said that lawyer Alejandro Padaen, POLO-OWWA’s labor attaché, forced them to sign the quitclaim, that states that they won’t demand anything from RHM once they got back to the country.

The workers explained that they only signed the quitclaim out of pressure because they badly wanted to go home. All of the complainants have spouses and children, and said they tried their luck abroad because they wanted to earn a living to support their families.

Deep in debt

The 10 men said they each paid JIMC a processing fee ranging from P11,500 ($259) to P15,000 ($337), and medical examination that amounted to P3,500 ($78). Their salaries ranged from 1,800 to 2,000 Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR) ($400 to $533). But they still got salary deductions ranging from SAR 100 to 200 ($27 to $53).

Rosita said that to pay for the processing fee and the medical exam, he took out a loan from a lending company, giving his land in Sibuyan, Romblon as collateral.

Rosita said he was supposed to earn SAR 2,900 ($773) every month, with his basic pay of SAR 1,500 ($400) and overtime pay worth SAR 1,400 ($373). Rosita said he was going to pay his debt with his salary, but he was not able to do so because his salary was only given once every three months, without overtime pay.

“I also worried for my family,” Rosita said. “I chose to work abroad to support their needs, but I can’t give anything to them because I was not paid regularly,” he said.

Cramped

Rosita said that eight persons occupied a small room that served as their quarters. When they stopped working, 17 persons were forced to occupy the small room.

Severino Gimenez of Biliran, Leyte who worked as a welder for RHM, said if they did not work for only a day, three days worth would be deducted from their salary.

“They weren’t even paying us regularly, then they will deduct a very large amount from our salary if we refuse to work. So we really don’t have a choice but to work,” Gimenez said.

When he contacted the JIMC to help them regarding their salary, the person he talked to scolded him and said that he can’t demand anything from them because he’d been working in the company for only a month.

Anthony Cajucom, 40, left the country on Dec. 6, 2013. He was a heavy equipment operator who used to work at a construction company. At RHM, he applied as back hoe operator, but in Saudi, he was assigned as side-boom operator.

“It’s really heavy work, because we were the ones who connect the oil pipes from 0 kilometer to 633 kilometer, from the well to Saudi, Qatar and UAE,” he said.

Cajucom said the RHM recruiter told him that the job, food and accommodation are good, there are many opportunities for overtime work, and no more fees to pay in Saudi. However, when they got there, he was still charged SAR 100 as placement fee.

Collusion

Rosita said he was even told by a certain Joseline Banoza of the JIMC that she does not care if they were not able to send money to their family. “That is not my business,” he recalled her words.

Cajucom recalled how the RHM human resource manager Padaen even wanted the OFWs to pick up the trash. “It wasn’t our job, because we are skilled workers,” he said. When they complained and asked to be repatriated, Padaen wanted them to return to work, and promised to set things right.

When they insisted, Cajucom recalled that Banoza tried to rush them into signing the quitclaim, and said that if they keep asking questions, their repatriation will not push through.

The RHM workers said that another Polo official, Samuel Madrid, told them they have nothing to complain about, since they get their salaries in “lumpsum.” “Even Pnoy (President Aquino) can’t bring you home,” they recalled the officer’s words.

Raid

Larry Maano of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan said that after they brought out their plight in Philippine media, mentioning that they were working without an Iqama, or work permit, their camp was raided by the KSA police. He was arrested with some of his co-workers, and they waited for hours for a company representative to have them released.

Maano said Banoza told him that they deserved what they got for seeking media attention and reporting that they didn’t have Iqama, which led the Saudi government to arrest them.

“She also told me that I ruined their reputation, but I told her that they were the ones who ruined us, our families. Two of my children had to stop their studies because I can’t send them the money they needed, because they were delaying our salary,” Maano said.

Maano accepted the offer to work abroad since his two eldest children were about to enter college.

Jolfel Mora, who was arrested together with Maano, was disappointed with what happened to them in RHM. “I just wanted to try if the working conditions in Saudi Arabia is good, but then this is what I got,” he said.

Mora left the country on July 3, 2014. He paid for the medical fee, but was not asked to pay any placement fee up front. However, every time his salary was released, SAR 200 was deducted – for placement fee. His salary was SAR 1800, and SAR 350 for food allowance.

After the raid, most of the workers became anxious, since they have to walk for a long distance to get to their working site while policemen lurked in the area. One of those workers was Ricky Bacongallo.

“We were only given a temporary pass that was written in the Arabic language, but the police did not honor it,” said Bacongallo.

Bacongallo said they couldn’t sleep well in their barracks because of the possibility of another raid. “Our camp was raided about three times and many of the workers, including other nationals were arrested, so you really have to be quick in finding a place where you could hide.”

Bonifacio Baril, 36, who used to be a tricycle driver, recalled their hardship, working without legal documents and dodging the police, putting up with insufficient food and quarters, and worst of all, delayed salaries.

“It was hard, being a victim of abuse by the company…I experienced eating bad food, smelly rice,”Baril said.

Marcelo Balanay, 31, recalled that he paid P15,000 as recruitment fee, but was not given any receipt and was made to sign in a logbook.

“We ran out of food, and we did not get our salary for four months. When they released it, it was only a month’s worth of salary,” said Balanay.

“You can’t even get any sleep, because of the cramped space. The food is not enough. And you don’t get paid, so you keep worrying about your family, when you can send support to them, and what you would say to them,” Balanay said.

“It’s so difficult, and it takes courage to be able to go home back to the Philippines,” he said.