EDITORIAL — Nothing has changed

According to a report in Philstar.com, the families of two Overseas Filipino Workers approached the office of Senator Raffy Tulfo to ask for help regarding what they suspect were the suspicious deaths of the OFWs who both worked in Saudi Arabia.

Tulfo said according to the family of Jelyn Arguzon, her placement agency, the Insana International Placement Agency, just suddenly reported that she had died of “natural causes,” while the family of Riolyn Sayson said Saudi authorities said she died of “cardiac arrest.”

But the family of Arguzon said they were suspicious because her employer held on to her passport and limited contact between her and her family prior to her death. During the few times she could contact her family she also said she was having trouble with the child of her employer.

Meanwhile, Sayson’s husband said his wife reported that she was locked in a room and fed only once a day.

Pending a full investigation into the two deaths, we don’t yet have the full picture of what happened and if the deaths were really suspicious. But if what the families of the two OFWs reported is true, things haven’t really changed for our OFWs when it comes to their treatment.

OFWs are supposed to keep their own passports. They aren’t supposed to be locked in a room. They aren’t supposed to be starved, among others.

Has nothing changed? What about the changes promised following the death of OFW Jullebee Ranara who was raped and killed by her employer’s son and whose burned body was found in the desert in Kuwait January of last year?

While it is easy for us to say to stop sending OFWs to Saudi Arabia until these deaths are properly investigated and settled, the sad reality is that many Filipinos have no other choice but to do dirty, degrading, and even dangerous jobs abroad --and risk similar treatment as Arguzon and Sayson.

Because until now well-paying jobs that can provide enough for an actual family remain scarce here.

In that aspect, nothing has also changed.