26 July 2010 - The Philippine Embassy in Amman is prepared to assist overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who ran away from their abusive employers.
Philippine Ambassador to Jordan Julius Torres said Embassy personnel are in the process of coordinating with the recruitment agency of five OFWs who allegedly ran away from their employers so appropriate assistance will be extended to them. Ambassador Torres, however, clarified that the said OFWs never presented themselves to the Embassy or to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office."It is therefore impossible that any of them were returned to their abusive employers. It is the Embassy's policy not to return distressed OFWs to their abusive employers," he stressed.
As soon as theEmbassy learned of the plight of the OFWs, Vice Consul Jeffrey Salik and Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Case Officer Santiago Sucaldito immediately contacted the individual who reported the incident and who also gave the contact numbers of the Filipino workers.
Mr. Sucaldito tried contacting the Filipinos but they declined to speak to him. The ATN Case Officer also sent text messages to introduce himself as a member of the Embassy staff, but the OFWs still refused to talk to him.