THE Filipino community has grown beyond pre-pandemic levels indicating a strong post-Covid recovery in the kingdom’s economy, with many more skilled workers from the Philippines making their way to Bahrain.
In an interview with the GDN about how she plans to serve the interests of more than 57,000 Filipinos residing in Bahrain, the country’s new Ambassador Anne Jalando-On Louis also highlighted how the embassy’s new offices will cater to the expatriate community.
“Before the pandemic, there were more than 51,000 Filipinos living in Bahrain, which dropped down to 49,000 by the end of 2021, because of the economic difficulties businesses faced in Bahrain,” the 56-year-old diplomat explained.
“This grew quickly to 53,000 in early 2022 with Bahrain’s post-pandemic economic recovery and by the end of the first quarter this year, it has grown to 57,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) showing us that businesses are hiring OFWs across multiple sectors and industries.”
More than half of the Filipino workers in Bahrain are domestic workers, but more and more skilled workers including accountants, engineers and architects from the Southeast Asian country are being snapped up by local firms.
According to Ms Jalando-On Louis, the community is also growing in retail workers as well as car mechanics and body shop workers.
To service the growing population, the embassy moved to new headquarters at the turn of the year from Mahooz to a larger set of offices in Adliya.
The new facilities include a consular office, a migrant workers office, a shelter for distressed workers as well as an event and gallery space, where works by community members of the blossoming Filipino Creatives Bahrain are showcased.
The ambassador, who presented her credentials to His Majesty King Hamad last month after serving as Chargé d’Affaires since last year, added that the embassy routinely sees a daily footfall of 70 to 100 residents seeking services.
“Last year, the embassy handled approximately 1,900 welfare and labour cases which mainly revolved around terms of contract and working conditions,” she explained.
“When an OFW approaches us to register a complaint, one of our staff members verified the complaint before our migrant workers’ office contacts the foreign recruitment agency, to arrange for arbitration or mediation.
“Sometimes, we also support them if they decide to file a legal case or report their circumstances to the labour authorities.
“If the situation is not resolved, the OFW can decide to go back home or find other employment opportunities, through the foreign recruitment agency.”
In 2022, a total of 310 OFWs were repatriated, some of whom went back home for medical reasons, as opposed to employment disputes.
The ambassador also revealed that during the past year, 145 distressed workers stayed at the shelter provided by the embassy. This number includes medical cases, as well as runaway workers.
Currently, there are eight adults and one child living at the embassy shelter.
“There is currently one medical repatriation OFW here, as well as some that have had problems with their employers, as well as runaway cases who were brought here by the police,” Ms Jalando-On Louis added.
In addition to serving the needs of OFWs in Bahrain, Ms Jalando-On Louis also hopes to nurture 45 years of bilateral relations between Bahrain and the Philippines and highlight what else her country has to offer.
“On the cultural side, we have The Nightingales visiting Bahrain and we also recently marked the 125th Philippine Independence Day with a festival and banquet, and we are hoping to have an exhibition in the second half of this year,” she added. The Nightingales, part of the famous Philippine Madgrigal Singers, performed with the Filipino Community Band at the recent reception staged at the Bahrain Conference Centre, Crowne Plaza Hotel, as reported in the GDN.
“We also want to highlight the Philippines as a potential tourism destination – something I would like to make a key action item on my agenda during my term,” the ambassador added.
In addition to tourism, Ms Jalando-On Louis will be leveraging her 26 years of diplomatic experience to deepen economic and trade relations.
Having worked in clinical education with a degree in nursing prior to joining the Foreign Service, she also hopes to deepen educational ties between Bahrain and the Philippines and build solid university links and exchange programmes to benefit both countries.
Ms Jalando-On Louis is living in Bahrain with her husband, Dr Gerard Joseph Louis. They have two children, Gabrielle, 24 and Gerard Andre, 22.
naman@gdnmedia.bh
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