OFWs seek final SC ruling on 26-year-old case

A group of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has asked the Supreme Court to issue a final ruling on a multi-billion suit they filed against US firms Brown and Root. Inc. and the Halliburton Group of Companies.

In a letter to Chief Justice Reynato Puno, the OFWs expressed fear that further delays may lead to a “manipulation” of the ruling on the case.

Manuel Olidan, one of the claimants, said their case was filed 26 years ago and has been pending with the Supreme Court for over three years.

“About 300 of the 2,000 complainants in this case have already died and most of us are now old and sickly,” the 63-year-old Olidan told The STAR. 

He said the lawyers of Brown and Root already expressed their willingness to pay the more than $609 million in damages to the OFWs if the SC would render a “final and executory” decision.

In December 2002, the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) directed the American firms to pay each of their former Filipino employees $30,000 in back wages and other financial benefits.

The claimants, who worked as construction workers in various countries in the Middle East, complained that they were not paid appropriate wages by the US firms. “While a Filipino worker welder receives a hourly rate of $2.50, other nationalities (who have) the same job get $22 a hour. The OFWs then were not being treated fairly,” Olidan said. The American firms, however, appealed the NLRC ruling before the Court of Appeals, which eventually reversed the decision prompting the Filipino workers to elevate the case to the SC in 2005.

Olidan said the SC told them the case has already been submitted for resolution but the decision has yet to come out. “To protect their image from accusations of irregularities, the Supreme Court should immediately render the decision of our case,” he said.

“We are not just fighting for compensation here, we are fighting for the rights and fair treatment for the millions of Filipinos working abroad,” Olidan added.