The settlement of the unpaid salaries of more than 10,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who lost their jobs after several companies declared bankruptcy in Saudi Arabia is “just a matter of time”, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople said Tuesday.

Ople made the remarks a day after the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. where he touted the processing of the unpaid claims amounting to around 2 billion riyals...

"As far as the DMW is concerned, based on our talks with the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development the resolution of claims is just a matter of time,” she added.

“We need to defer to and respect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's own internal processes in handling such claims,” Ople said...

In November last year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia committed to allocating some 2 billion riyals for the unpaid salaries of some 10,000 overseas Filipinos employed by construction companies that declared bankruptcy in the years 2015 and 2016.

The companies included three major oil firms: Saudi Oger, MMG, and the Bin Laden Group.

The DMW in March said it would provide P10,000 in aid to each worker waiting for the Saudi government to fulfill its promise. The funding for the initiative came from both the DMW and the Department of Social Welfare and Development...