SW News: The Catholic Church in the Philippines says it is hopeful that the proposed reform of Saudi Arabia’s employment laws will benefit the nearly million-strong Filipino community who live and work in the Arab kingdom. For the past seven decades, Saudi Arabia has operated an employment regime for foreign workers known as the Kafala system, which has often been accused of being misused to exploit migrant labor. Now reforms are being proposed which would allow such workers new rights including the ability to leave the country without an employer’s consent and the right to change jobs. The proposed reforms are due to come into effect in March of next year. Filipino Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga, who is the vice-chairman of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, says he hopes that domestic workers, such as cooks and maids, will also be included in the reforms. An estimated 2.3 million Filipinos currently work abroad with Saudi Arabia being one of the top nations to which they migrate.