19,000 Pinoys work in Brunei

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – There are 21,000 Filipinos here including their dependents and Bruneians like working with them.

Philippine Ambassador Nestor Ochoa said of the 19,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Brunei, 12 percent are professionals including nurses, doctors and engineers.

Many Filipinos also like to work in the oil and gas industry, he said the other day.

“They prefer Filipino nurses because they can easily adapt to the language and, of course, our tender loving care image is always there,” Ochoa said.

There are fewer than 200 undocumented Filipinos in Brunei.

Skilled workers like masons, carpenters, technicians, and electricians account for 12 to 13 percent, while 15 percent are unskilled. Twenty-four percent are domestic helpers and the rest are semi-skilled such as waitresses and drivers.

“That is more or less the profile of the Filipinos in Brunei. And here in Brunei, they really like the Filipinos. There are foreigners coming here looking for Filipino workers,” Ochoa said.

He said Filipinos are dependable, skilled, professional, and always smiling.

The ambassador said they started holding absentee voting for OFWs last April 13, but only 341 of 9,000 voters have cast their votes so far.