RIYADH, 1 April 2004 — Two new welfare officers (Welofs) have just arrived to fill up positions at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh and in the Central Region. They are lawyer Federico Biolena and Ed Bellido.

“The arrival of lawyer Federico F. Biolena is a welcome development. I find him to be one of the most qualified welfare officers to have been posted in Riyadh because of his experience. He’s also a lawyer,” Labor Attaché Manuel “Dodong” Roldan told Arab News yesterday.

Biolena is being cross-posted from Muscat, Oman, where he served for one year and four months. Before that, he served in Saipan for more than four years. He’s replacing former Welfare Officer Angel Borja, who has been assigned as Assistant Labor Attaché in the Eastern Province.

“The service of a welfare officer is very much in demand in Riyadh, where there’s a big concentration of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). My assignment here will be very challenging,” said Biolena, who has been with Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for the last 20 years.

That there are close to 400,000 OFWs in Riyadh, according to the embassy.

Bellido, who has been with the OWWA for 22 years, has been sent to the Kingdom to also fill a new position as a result of the creation of the Central Region Office (CRO).

Lawyer Alberto Abalayan, the labor attaché in the Central Region, said the creation of the new office by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is long overdue. There are about 80,000 Filipino workers in the Central Region, which includes Buraidah, Qassim, Hail, Al-Jouf, Sakaka and Wadi Dawaser.