ME trip: Rody may save OFWs on death row

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – President Duterte will seek clemency for jailed Filipinos, including those on death row, and bring home stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) during his visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.

Philippine consul general to Riyadh Iric Arribas said there are about 700 Filipinos imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for various cases, including the use of illegal drugs, immorality and alcoholism.

Of the jailed Filipinos, about 21 have been sentenced to death.

Duterte hopes to bring home at least 5,000 stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were granted clemency and also detainees languishing on death row in the prisons of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar during his Middle East visit this week.

The President left yesterday for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that is part of the three-country state visits in the Middle East, which include stops in Bahrain and Doha, Qatar.

Duterte said to be included in the discussions in his visits to these countries would be the fate of detained Filipinos and those on death row.

He said it would be possible that these OFWs would be granted pardon and even commutation of sentence.

“Yes, they’ve been given the clearance. I will fly them home. Pagdating ko dito dala ko na ‘yung iba. Diyan sa Jeddah ‘yan. Those who are given the permission of clemency to whatever it was may clearance na, about 5,000 of them, we’ll start bringing them back. The first batch pagdating ko pagbalik, Inshallah, nandito na ‘yung iba,” Duterte said in his departure speech here.

During his visit, which started yesterday and will end on April 12, Duterte will meet with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to discuss bilateral relations, defense, trade and investments, campaign against illegal drugs, labor, energy, education and culture.

Asked if Duterte will seek clemency for jailed Filipinos during the meeting, Arribas said: “It’s possible but I could not categorically say. It will be dependent on the flow of discussions. It will have to be discussed among our governments.”

He noted that the Philippine government seeks clemency for Filipino prisoners whenever the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches.

Arribas said that none of the Filipinos on death row in Saudi Arabia is scheduled to be executed this year.

“They are not yet for execution. They will have to undergo processes. Others have to pay blood money. In some cases, the victims are fellow Filipinos. The embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs are talking to the families so there can be a settlement,” Arribas said.

“There are legal processes in Saudi that need to be respected. We give legal assistance to our countrymen so they can be properly represented before the courts,” he added.

Arribas said the Philippine embassy has also proposed the inclusion of the problem of illegal drugs in the bilateral talks between Duterte and King Salman.

“We need to gain the cooperation of Saudi in our aim to combat illegal drugs. There could be sharing of intelligence information and capacity-building of anti-drug enforcement agencies,” he said. “It’s not just a domestic issue but a transnational issue.”

Arribas said there are about 400 Filipinos in Saudi Arabia tagged in cases related to illegal drugs.

The consul general could not confirm Duterte’s statement that he would bring home with him some Filipino migrant workers. He stressed though that the embassy is continuously assisting Filipinos who were stranded or who lost their jobs because of the economic downturn.

“For those with cases, we cannot just repatriate them. But we provide them legal assistance,” Arribas said.

He also denied claims that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh has been slow in helping stranded Filipino workers.   – With Alexis Romero, Christina Mendez