Riyadh OFW now under agency’s care

An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Riyadh who is facing health issues and was reportedly threatened with being sold to another employer to recover agency fees, is now in the care of her foreign recruitment agency (FRA).

Hazel Fernandez has been transferred to her FRA’s accommodations, according to Department of Migrant Workers Undersecretary Felicitas Bay on 24 December, based on a report from Labor Attaché Antonio Mutuc of the Migrant Workers Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fernandez had reached out to Daily Tribune’s Usapang OFW show for assistance, reporting frequent numbness in her face and arms, along with severe headaches.

Despite her health issues, Fernandez was still expected to care for her employer’s 90-year-old grandmother, even after she had been hospitalized. The physical strain of lifting the elderly woman worsened Fernandez’s condition, leading to swelling in her knee.

Fernandez’s Philippine recruitment agency, RJC Global Manpower Provider Inc. in Ermita, Manila, said her employer had been uncooperative in addressing her health concerns.

In a private message to Daily Tribune, Fernandez said that her employer’s father became hostile after she reported her situation to the authorities.

“They are not bringing me to the FRA. Instead, they keep yelling and pointing fingers at me. I don’t know what to do anymore,” she said.

Details of her repatriation to the Philippines are pending.