An appeal to Palace: Secure OFWs’ safety in Saudi

THE skeptical reaction of the Palace over the weekend to a report that several thousand overseas Filipino workers are in grave danger in Saudi Arabia was infuriating, but sadly not at all surprising.

In a statement by Presidential Communications Undersecretary Manuel Quezon 3rd, the Administration cast doubt on a report by Senate candidate Susan Ople, who heads the Blas Ople Policy Center, that at least four OFWs working in the southern Saudi city of Najran had sought assistance from the Philippine embassy in Riyadh to be evacuated, due to frequent shelling and rocket attacks on the city by rebel forces just across the border in Yemen. According to Ople, as many as 5,000 OFWs are in danger from the violence, which is increasing in intensity.