MANILA, Philippines — Two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) perished in a fire that struck their construction site in Saudi Arabia early Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.
The DFA expressed its sympathies to the families of the two fatalities, identified as Jessie Alata Pacetes and Reynaldo Barroga Castro, both heavy equipment drivers and operators employed by a major Saudi construction company that was working on a road project in Najran.
A team from the Philippine consulate general in Jeddah was in Najran to discuss with the employer arrangements for the immediate repatriation of the remains of the victims and secure benefits that are due them as well as to ascertain from local authorities the real cause of the fire.
Consul General Edgar Badajos said the two victims died in their sleeping quarters at their jobsite located some 60 kilometers from Najran. The blaze was believed to have been caused by faulty electrical wiring.
Senate hearing on Kuwait
Meanwhile, DFA officials have been invited to attend today a hearing of the Senate committee on labor to look into the situation of OFWs in Kuwait and the uploading of the video of the rescue of OFWs from a Kuwaiti household that led to the expulsion of Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa.
Invited to attend the hearing of the committee, chaired by Sen. Joel Villanueva, were Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola, Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato and Office of Migrant Workers Affairs Executive Director Raul Dado.
The committee secretariat said officials from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and migrant workers groups were also invited to attend.
The three Philippine diplomatic personnel charged with kidnapping for the rescue of distressed Filipino workers in April arrived in Manila on Friday after they were issued travel clearance by Kuwait.
The travel clearance was issued after the total lifting of the ban on the deployment of OFWs to the Gulf state.