Filipina domestic worker repatriated from Saudi after death threats from employer

A Filipina migrant worker has been repatriated to the Philippines on Wednesday night after continuously receiving death threats from her employer in Saudi Arabia.

ACTS-OFW party-list Representative John Bertiz III led the repatriation of Reynalyne Constantino, a household service worker, to the country and assisted her and her family in their needs.

“January 23 pa lang, nasa custody na si Reynalyne ng Al Mashhoury (foreign recruitment agency) para ma-process na ang kanyang exit clearance, pero kinuha ulit siya ng kanyang employer para magtrabaho," Bertiz said in a statement.

"Kinailangan nating kulitin naman yung local agency niya para makabalik siya sa Al Mashhoury. Nagpapasalamat pa rin tayo dahil in God’s grace naiuwi na natin siya sa kanyang pamilya,” he added.

Constantino, a 43-year-old Laguna native, has been a domestic worker in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia since December 2018. But she sought help several weeks later after her employer Maryam Awadh Ai Nofayej threatened to kill her after she was accused of stealing from Nofayej's house.

After contacting the local recruitment agency of Constantino, Bertiz was able to expedite her repatriation.

But Constantino was not the only OFW who experienced such threats in their work overseas, Bertiz said.

“With over 25 percent of our OFWs in Saudi Arabia alone, nakalulungkot na nangyayari ang mga ganitong sitwasyon sa ating mga kababayan pero mahalaga na matiyak natin ang kanilang seguridad dahil malaki ang utang na loob natin sa ating mga OFW, ‘yan nga ang tinuturing natin na mga bagong bayani,” he added.

Since 2010, the party-list has already worked for the repatriation of more than 11,000 OFWs in the Middle East during times of crisis and recessions. —LDF, GMA News