DOLE recalls official tagged in 'sex-for-flight' scheme in Riyadh

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has ordered the recall of the assistant labor attaché in Riyadh amid an alleged 'sex-for-flight' scheme perpetrated by Philippine officials against overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in the Middle East.

In a radio interview on Monday, Lea Fortuna, head ofthe DOLE investigating team, said there is already an advisory ordering Assistant Labor Attache Antonio Villafuerte to come home to answer allegations mounted against him.

The accusations sprang from a group of OFWs in Riyadh who implicated Villafuerte in the alleged scheme.

On June 18, Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello tagged three government officials allegedly involved in sexual exploitation and prostitution rings victimizing OFWs in the Middle East.

Three OFWs based in Riyadh formally gave their respective sworn statements regarding the sexual abuses they experienced in Saudi Arabia. The group earlier met with Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario before giving their sworn statements.

The migrant workers filed their affivadit before Fortuna and Ophelia Almenario of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.