The Philippine Online Chronicles

A migrant group recently reported that jobless and undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Saudi Arabia have been trying to survive overseas by selling blood to hospitals.

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said some of the OFWs whom they have helped in the past admitted to selling blood to raise funds for sustenance or even to send money home to their families.

Monterona said one of them, a certain “Roy,” told him that he sells his blood monthly to send money to his family. He first came to Saudi Arabia in 2009 as a glass cutter but is now a TNT (“Tago nang Tago,” a term for undocumented OFWs).

“After months of working and not being paid his salary, he was forced to run away from his employer and has since become undocumented,” Monterona said.

Migrante asserted that there is nothing wrong with donating blood. “It is in fact a noble and humanitarian act,” said Monterona. But they are concerned that fellow OFWs have been forced to donate blood, in exchange of honorarium.

“We could fully understand the dire situation of our undocumented and jobless OFWs who often donated their blood to various hospitals in Riyadh, though their apparent motive is to get money in exchange of the blood they donated,” Monterona said.

Migrante said there are around 8,000 to 10,000 undocumented OFWs in Saudi Arabia.