TWENTY thousand overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are keenly awaiting the forthcoming visit of Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with the hopes of finally having the suspension of deployment there being lifted.In a statement, recruitment analyst Emmanuel Geslani said there are some 20,000 stranded OFWs bound for Saudi Arabia that are pinning their hopes on Ople.”More than 20,000 OFWs mobilized for Saudi Arabia but have remained stranded in the country and unable to fly to their employers and job sites are looking forward to the trip of DMW Secretary Ople to Saudi Arabia in the next few weeks,” said Geslani.The numbers, he noted, include 10,000 stranded OFWs recruited for construction projects and jobs but had their contract verification process suspended since March 2021.Similarly, more than 10,000 Filipino household service workers got stranded after their contract verification process also got suspended in November 2021.Geslani said even recruitment agencies are looking forward to the said trip of Ople to KSA.He said this is because most of the stranded workers are still in Metro Manila waiting for their jobs and are being housed in accommodations provided by the recruitment agencies.”Many have been cooling their heels in Metro Manila and in the provinces, where they have stayed since last year, thus causing substantial financial losses to the recruitment agencies,” said Geslani.In his first State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Marcos Jr. ordered Ople to visit KSA and discuss with her counterparts the possibility of reopening the deployment of OFWs there.The suspension of deployment to KSA was imposed by former Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. (SunStar Philippines)