Qatar frees 17 Filipinos arrested for unauthorized rally

(Updated April 7, 2025, 6:30 p.m.)

MANILA, Philippines — Qatar officially released 17 overseas Filipino workers arrested for participating in an unauthorized rally in support of former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Palace announced on Monday.

This development came three days after the Qatari government granted the provisional, or temporary, release of the OFWs.

“The Qatari Ambassador to the Philippines, Ahmed Saad Nasser Abdullah Al-Homidi, stated that the 17 individuals who were arrested in Qatar have already been released and the cases filed against them have been dismissed,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in Filipino at a briefing in Malacañang.

Meanwhile, in a social media post, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thanked the Qatari government for not pursuing charges against the Filipinos.

“They will not face any penalties and will be allowed to return to work,” Marcos said.

In a text message to INQUIRER.net, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac also confirmed that the Middle Eastern country’s government dropped “cases or matters” that led to the OFWs’ arrest.

“No charges were filed against the 17 and therefore the cases or matters that led to their arrests before Qatari authorities have been dismissed,” Cacdac said.

The rally in Qatar was among the demonstrations held by Duterte supporters on March 28, Duterte’s birthday.

Duterte is currently held at the International Criminal Court detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, pending trial for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during his administration’s war on drugs.

His administration’s drug war claimed at least 6,000 lives, according to official government data. However, human rights watchdogs estimated the death toll from the drug war to be between 12,000 and 30,000 from 2016 to 2019.

READ: Pro-Duterte OFWs held in Qatar over illegal rally

READ: Filipino pro-Duterte demonstrators in Qatar given provisional release