Government urged to aid illegal OFW in Saudi

MANILA, Philippines - A migrant workers’ group is asking the government to help repatriate an undocumented overseas Filipino worker who was accidentally electrocuted last year while working.

Alfredo Salmos, who is in his mid-50s, was unconscious for a month after about 14,000 volts of electricity ripped through him. He has since been unable to work, according to Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona.

Salmos, a native of Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, said it now takes him an hour to change clothes. He cannot yet return to work, but needs money for his medication. Salmos has been undocumented for nearly a decade, though he did start out as a legal OFW.

Monterno said upon being informed of Salmos’ situation, his group sent a formal request for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to provide him with assistance and for the Philippine consulate in Jeddah to arrange his repatriation.

“We hope and pray that… Salmos will be given a chance to live with his family while recuperating,” Monterona said.