By Raïssa Robles
PNoy’s government has just rejected a Saudi government appeal to cut the Filipino maids’ minimum wage back to US$200 from the current US$400, as well as waive other requirements, an Associated Press report said.
The issue has been a major irritant in our bilateral relations. But I’m glad the Philippine government is standing pat. Because US$200 is just too low to compensate for all the hardship that a domestic has to bear while living in the desert away from home, family and friends.
Consider this, a minimum wage earner in Manila earns around P7,000 a month. If the minimum is set back to US$200, using the current peso-dollar rate, a domestic in Saudi would earn a mere P8,600 – or only P1,600 more than if she stayed in Manila.
Requiring potential employers to give personal data, including personal income, is an additional but necessary safeguard.
The Saudi government has even tried to use the “mediation card” – meaning, their nationals should get our nationals on the cheap because they are helping out in the peace negotiations in southern Philippines.
Nice try, Saudi. But it doesn’t work.
I know for a fact that Saudi families prefer Filipino maids and that having Filipino maids is a status symbol over there.
I remember, my editor in Riyadh Daily (now defunct) phoned me numerous times to ask me to locate his Filipino maid who had returned home for good. Because she refused to return to his household, he wanted me to recruit another Filipino maid for him.
I drew the line on that one and stopped contributing to his broadsheet. I didn’t want to end up as an illegal labor recruiter.
Ronaldo Robles says
Hi Raissa, I don’t know if you’re a distant relative of ours. I am working here in Saudi Arabia for 9 years now as Mechanical Engineer. I know how this saudis treat the women. They never give them equal respect like men and more on women like Filipinas, Indonesians, Bangladeshi (also called Banggali) and other neighboring asians. Almost all saudis are thinking of filipina women as the best sex object…., I don’t want to elaborate it further…, and maybe that’s the reason why there are so many pinays are being raped by their employer or by the relatives. If I will be asked, I don’t want any Pinays to work here as house maid, surely, mababastos lang sila and maybe raped.
Miss Rissa, hope we could still communicate kahit sa e-mail ko or sa YM ko para makapagshare pa ako ng marami pang kwento.
raissa says
sure. just e-mail me.
thanks, ronaldo
raissa
RONALDO ROBLES says
THANKS!
nelson ongpauco says
ang mga pinay ay wala ng kahihiyan nagwawala sa ibang bansa kaya tuloy ang mga tao sa pinas ay puro mucha ng insik puro singkit ang mata .karamihan na artista ay puro half and half yan ang ginagaya ng iba para maging artista ang anak nila ….pati ba naman sa aprika pinapatulan pa nila ang mga egot naito dahil pinangakuan sila ng pera yan tuloy nahuli sila sa china na nagdadala ng drug de huli ka etme ka ….yan ang napapala ng mga taong mukhang pera ..dito sa america nagkalat ang mga pinay 20yrs o 25yrs old na nagasawa ng matandang puti nakakahiya lahat ng tao sa seafood pinoy store pag nakita sila hindi makapaniwala at ang masama na ginawa sa kasama ko sa trabaho ay kinaliwa at sumama sa batang pinoy pero bumalik at tinangap pero pag karaan ng ilang buwan ay umalis uli kaya dinevorse sya .dalawa ang matanda kasama ko sa trabaho na nag asawa ng pinay ..nakakahiya ang at dito pa sa amerika nagkakalat …ay naku sabi ng apo ko ..
nelson ongpauco says
noong ako ay nasa saudi arabia 1977/1979 ay $900 dollar ang sahod namin pero ang mga sumunod sa amin ay $800 dollar nalang dahil kaagaw natin ang mga indonesian at thailand india at pakistan sa trabaho ..sa aramco ako nagtatyrabaho .kaimng mga kasamang pinoy ang nagkakabit ng mga linya ng telephono .sa campo kami nakatira libre ang pagkain may rec hall na libre kain .nasa presidente ang desisyon kung papababain ang mga sahod .sana huwag pumaayag si pinoy ..
Baltazar says
Hi Raizza,
You have a really good web site. I love the articles. You may also try investigating on the alleged Pinay prostitution here in Singapore. I’ve been working here for 3 years and based on what my wife and I saw on the streets and other public places, they seem to be true and really led me to think that somehow, why some Singaporeans look down on Pinays ( and Indonesian women too) , is that they have some basis. Another common issue here is the domestic helper cum hooker. They are legitimate domestic helpers but eventually hook males mostly of different nationalities to get extra income.
kaloyz56 says
That’s pure exploitation and lack of sensitivity to the plight of their lesser brethren of the world. They are awash with petrodollars. While the world economy is going south, the cost of oil is going up. Increase the salaries of their domestics not cut it. Exploiters!
Hellraker says
THey already pay them pennies and they want to cut their wage?
Immigrants have built West Asia paid for by oil. If they were to leave, the Arabs would not have the ability to keep things running.