JEDDAH, 17 June 2007 — Forty more Filipinos stranded in Jeddah left for Manila last night, the Philippine Consulate General said.
Like the 138 who returned home on June 13, those who left yesterday on board a Malaysian Airlines flight were composed of women who overstayed their Umrah or Haj visas in the Kingdom, plus some children, said Labor Attaché Bulyok Nilong, chief of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office for the Western Region.
About 100 others who have been cleared by the Jawazat (Saudi Passport and Immigration Department) are temporarily housed at the deportation center awaiting their flight.
More than 500 were still at the Jawazat holding area at the Jeddah Seaport for “processing.”
Consul General Pendosina N. Lomondot on Thursday sent consulate staff to the deportation center to give medicines and food, including milk, for the stranded women and children.
Another group led by Juliet Roa of Circulo Ilonggo Saudi Arabia and Aida Merca-Salvacion of SAM 1925 Foundation, Inc. brought medicines to the Jawazat holding area at the seaport, said Welfare Officer Abdurajik Samain, who accompanied the volunteers.
Dr. Wilhelmina Victor and team of other health workers provided free medical services for the distressed Filipinos at the holding area on June 13 following reports of illness associated with overcrowding.
One of the overstayers named Faisal Bandila was brought to King Fahd Hospital on Wednesday after he complained that he was unwell. The 38-year-old from Pikit town in North Cotabato province died at 9:45 p.m. on that same day due to hypertension, said his wife Tarhata Baganian.
Bandila was buried in Jeddah the next day, leaving behind his wife and two young children.
