GMA heart Saudi Arabia

During her visit, the President will also meet with the various Filipino communities in the Middle East whose number has now reached well over the million mark....

But, she added, "we must appeal for their strict adherence to the laws of the host nations, as we so demand of foreigners in our own land."

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Arroyo to get taste of Filipino grievances in Saudi

Some housemaids face other hardships, including maltreatment, overworking and sexual abuse, community activists say.

Some six million expatriates live in Saudi Arabia.

Filipina yaya or nanny

the yaya represents one archetype of Filipina femininity: self-sacrificing, loyal, with lots of EQ, even if sometimes lacking in IQ.

. The numbers are so high (200,000 Pinay maids in Hong Kong; 150,000 in Singapore; 100,000 in Taiwan; close to a million in the Gulf; and perhaps over half a million in Europe) that in many of these countries, the stereotype of the Filipina is that of a nanny.

"Working as a maid does not equate to being uneducated. Most of our compatriots abroad working as nurses and nannies in Asia, Europe, and Middle East are highly educated. They are tertiary qualified graduates who are forced to leave as there are no jobs for them in the country....