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The Philippines has opened up on  sending workers to Saudi Arabia. Previously, the ban on shipments was implemented after reports emerged of workers being asked to bear the costs of Covid-19 tests and quarantines in the oil-rich country.

Philippine Labor Minister Silvestre Bello III said the Saudi Arabian government sent a notification stating that agents and employers in Saudi Arabia were to bear the costs of testing and quarantine for 10 days for the Philippines. Bello finally decided to revoke the policy.

The policy that Bello implemented on Thursday (26/5) prevented more than 400 Filipino workers from leaving for Saudi Arabia on Philippine Airlines planes on Friday (28/5). Many of them ended up stranded at Manila airport. Some people cried begging the government to lift the ban.

\"I apologize for the temporary inconvenience and suffering our Filipino workers abroad have endured, our bonded workers in Saudi Arabia will no longer be harmed,\" he said Saturday (29/5).

The Philippines is one of the largest overseas labor senders in the world. The state regulation requires agencies and employers to bear the costs of testing and quarantine for Covid-19 because both will burden the poor workforce.