9 Pinoys freed from Saudi jail

MANILA, Philippines - Nine Filipinos have been pardoned and released from jail under a royal decree issued on the occasion of the return of the Saudi crown prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz from medical treatment overseas, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The DFA withheld the names of the Filipinos, who are undergoing the necessary government procedures before they are allowed to leave the country, until their next of kin have been informed.

The Philippine embassy in Riyadh is working on arranging the tickets for their journey back home, including with their original employers, if any.

The names of all Filipino prisoners who could qualify for clemency were submitted by the embassy to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There are about 400 to 500 detainees within the embassy’s jurisdiction. This figure does not include those being monitored by the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah.

Former labor undersecretary and Nacionalista Party senatorial candidate Susan Ople said yesterday the DFA has recommended 700 Filipino detainees for inclusion in the royal pardon.

Ople said several of those endorsed by the embassy were arrested due to immigration offenses and other petty crimes.

She urged the government to make sure that sufficient funds are available for the immediate repatriation and reintegration of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in various Saudi jails who would be included in the royal pardon for prisoners.

"Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos assured me yesterday that the names of all Filipinos under detention in Saudi Arabia were forwarded by the Philippine embassy to a committee specially designated by King Abdullah to consider those eligible for pardon. My next question is, who would pay for the return tickets of those to be pardoned?" Ople said.

Although most of the OFWs in Saudi jails left the country as OWWA members, Ople said a majority of them may not have been able to renew their memberships since the date of their incarceration.

"I am raising this question as early as now just to make sure that the funding needed to bring the pardoned prisoners home is already secured and at the embassy's disposal," she added.

Ople said the Saudi government requires foreign workers due for pardon to have a one-way ticket home and a valid travel document.