RIYADH, 27 July 2005 — The Philippine Embassy yesterday said it has called the attention of Saudi authorities to the case of a Filipino domestic worker who has remained in jail beyond her sentence.

In a press statement, the embassy said Mahal Salabi was sentenced in February 2004 to six months imprisonment and 150 lashes but “continues to languish in jail to this day.”

The maid, from the Southern Philippine province of Sulu, was accused by the wife of her employer of alleged sorcery, a charge which she denied, the embassy said in a note to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The embassy said it has requested authorities “to give preferential assistance to the case of Salabi so that she can be repatriated as soon as possible,” noting that concerned relatives and authorities in the Philippines are asking for explanations over the extended punishment.

Bad Faith

The embassy said it has also asked local authorities to help protect a Filipino seamstress who won her case against her employer for non-payment of salaries for 10 months but now faces a counter-charge for alleged theft.

Maria Consolacion Miguel filed a complaint against her employer at the Saudi Labor Office in February 2004.

The case reached the Primary Commission where an amicable settlement was arrived at, and the employer was asked to pay the seamstress SR4,700.00 and subsequently repatriate her to the Philippines.

“The Philippine Embassy, however, learned later that her employer slapped Ms. Miguel with a counter-charge before the Suwaidi Police Station, accusing her without evidence that she had allegedly stolen a machine from the shop where she was working,” said the statement.

Embassy officials are convinced that the employer acted in bad faith and have asked authorities concerned to enforce the Primary Commission’s ruling and that Miguel “be shielded from further harassment by her employer.”

Injured Worker

In another development, the embassy said it had asked Manila for financial assistance for worker Verimi Carandang, who has been confined at the Al-Iman General Hospital after falling from the sixth floor of his apartment early this month.

Carandang, a 37-year-old resident of Lipa town in Batangas, south of Manila, fell from his apartment in his attempt to escape a raid conducted by police authorities.

“Carandang claimed that he left his sponsor some five years ago and could not tell embassy representatives any details about his employer except that his name was a certain Ibrahim who lived somewhere in Olaya. He said he worked as a family driver,” said the embassy. Guinomla reportedly visited Carandang in his ward at the hospital on Monday night and was told that the patient has incurred a total bill of SR12,000.00

“Since Carandang’s employer is nowhere to be found to guarantee the payment of the bills, the hospital would not operate on him,” said the embassy in a report to Manila.

“The embassy, while trying to address the financial concern, has appealed to the hospital to treat Carandang,” it added.

Carandang was recruited by Roper Recruitment Agency, which holds office near the Midland Plaza.

Repatriated

Meanwhile, 14 OFWs have been repatriated to the Philippines on July 13, Guinomla said.

He said the OFWs were all female domestic helpers who ran away from their respective sponsors and were subsequently booked for various offenses, including alleged immorality and non-possession of valid resident identification cards or iqama. All were detained at the Al Nisa Jail in Riyadh where they served their sentences.

Citing an increase in the arrests of runaway OFWs, Guinomla urged those with problems with their sponsors to visit the embassy for assistance in their repatriation, instead of staying on illegally in the Kingdom and risking arrests and imprisonment.

Expired Contracts

In September, two Filipino drivers whose contracts expired late last year will finally be able to leave, Guinomla also said.

He said Al-Jeri Transport company has agreed to repatriate Angelito Fernandez and Daniel Lozano after initially refusing to do so despite the completion of their contracts.

Guinomla said he had earlier instructed Labor Attache Bulyok Nilong of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah to also talk to the company’s representative in Jeddah about the demand of the Filipinos to be repatriated. The two drivers were part of the group that the ambassador had visited in the Saudi-Iraqi border in Ar-Ar last year and dissuaded from entering Iraq.