I am in the same case as yours. I'm in Saudi now and my employeer keeps my passport. How did I do it? Well, guts lang and konting technique. Hindi ko sinabi yung buong katotohanan sa employer ko. Sinabi ko na na hihiramin ko passport ko for Philippine Embassy purposes dahil needed para sa visa stamping ng canadian visa ko. inabiso ko din sa kanila na medyo matatagalan ang pagbalik ng passport ko from "Riyadh". di ko sinabi na sa pinas ko ipapadala.
so ganun ang nangyari, pinahiran nila yung passport ko. pina-DHL ko sa canadian embassy sa Pinas noong february 2 2012. tapos natanggap ko, from my parents (thru DHL) noong second week of May na yata.
risky? yes, it was a big risk that i took. guts guts lang tlaga at sobrang dasal na walang mangyari sa akin na masama habang wala ang passport ko dito sa saudi. pero that was a calculated risk talaga dahil had i told my employer the real reason, tiyak hindi sila papayag tapos the ending would have been me resigning prematurely before my contract ends on august. in effect, my severance will be severely affected. dahil sa risk na iyon, hopefully, makaka-alis ako dito ng finished contract talaga by august at buo ang severance ko inshallah.