AROUND 5,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may soon be deployed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), according to recruitment consultant Emmanuel Geslani.

Geslani said this was the estimated number of OFWs whose documents were left pending after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) ordered the suspension of the verification process and accreditation of new principals in KSA.

"The action of the [Labor] Secretary [Silvestre H.] Bello [III] will allow more than 5,000 workers to be processed by the POEA upon receipt of the documents verified from the labor attaches and to be accredited by the POEA," Geslani was quoted in a statement he issued last Sunday.

Among those to benefit from the new issuance are professionals, maintenance workers like plumbers carpenters, electricians and similar skilled OFWs and household service workers, according to Geslani.

Last Tuesday, Bello issued a memorandum expanding the exemption for the suspension in the accreditation of new principals to include new principals.

Bello, however, said the suspension will still apply for the following: renewal of accreditation for erring principals; processing of new and additional job orders for construction; and, "mega" recruitment companies.

In a phone interview, International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) Director Alice Q. Visperas told the BusinessMirror the restriction were implemented amid reports of the increasing welfare cases of OFWs in KSA, which were not being addressed by the concerned recruitment agency and principal.

Visperas also noted the measure aims to limit the number of OFWS in the "mega" recruitment agencies and construction companies in KSA, where they may have a higher chance of being infected with the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) from being confined with other workers.

"The restriction was eased based on the recommendations of our labor attaches in the Middle East," the labor official told the BusinessMirror.

To recall, the POEA, which is chaired by Bello, imposed the partial lifting of the suspension of verification of employment documents of OFWs in the KSA last October 2020 allowing the deployment of 50 percent of the usual volume of OFWs bound for the Arab country.

At the time, the accreditation of new principals remained suspended.

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