Pardoned by king

MANILA, Philippines—Twenty-nine Filipino women inmates of the Al-Nisa jail in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, among 125 Filipino prisoners pardoned recently by King Abdullah, were scheduled to return to Manila on Thursday.

Another 58 Filipinos, these ones undocumented, were also scheduled to return to the country on Thursday night from Jeddah, according to the Office of the Vice President.

The women inmates had been “charged with petty crimes that were covered by the amnesty” issued by the Saudi leader, said the Filipino migrant workers group Migrante-Middle East (MME).

Citing a report in the Saudi newspaper Arab News, MME regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said the Filipinos had been accused of crimes like theft and immorality.

“Some of them have served their jail sentences… their plane tickets were provided by either the Saudi government or their employers,” Monterona told the Inquirer.

In an e-mail, Monterona also disclosed that at least 50 Filipino inmates at the Al-Hair jail, located 25 miles south of the Saudi capital, had appealed for inclusion in the royal pardon.

“Most of the inmates there have already completed their jail terms,” he said.

In a statement, Vice President Jejomar Binay said “this is a fulfillment of our promise to our kababayan when we visited them in March. I’m glad they can now reunite with their families and start their lives anew.”

Binay, also the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns, had earlier asked Malacañang to release P143 million for the repatriation of some 4,500 overstaying Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Middle East kingdom.

In the past three days, some 110 troubled OFWs in Jeddah had been repatriated by the government.

Last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saudi authorities had cleared for repatriation more than 500 OFWs in the western Saudi city.

“Flight bookings have been made for the repatriates (by the Philippine consulate in Jeddah). They are expected to be back home in the coming weeks,” said Foreign Assistant Secretary J. Eduardo Malaya, also the DFA spokesperson.

Early this month, the Saudi Embassy in Makati City disclosed that only 125 of the 800-plus Filipinos serving jail terms in Saudi Arabia were included in the King’s order for royal clemency.

The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh had earlier recommended to the Saudi government the inclusion of nearly 600 Filipino prisoners in the royal pardon.

In a May 4 letter to the DFA, the Saudi embassy said the “royal clemency directive” had been issued by the Saudi ruler “in view of the excellent relations between the two friendly countries and on the occasion of the return of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (the Saudi king) from successful medical treatment” in the United States.

The royal pardon covered, among others, 125 “male and female overseas Filipino workers detained in different jails in Saudi Arabia,” the embassy told the DFA’s Office of Middle East and African Affairs.