RIYADH, 8 December 2003 — The Philippines is seeking royal clemency for nearly 100 migrant workers jailed in the Kingdom, its ambassador says.
Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla told Arab News the workers are held for minor offenses and constitute about half of the Filipinos serving prison sentences here.
He said the embassy was waiting for the Saudi government’s reply to an official request for a royal pardon.
Many of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) for whom the embassy has sought clemency this year serve prison terms for offenses like immoral acts, alcoholism, sodomy, corruption and embezzlement.
The ambassador also drew attention to Filipina maid Sarah Jane Dematera, who has been in prison for 11 years, convicted by a Saudi court for the murder of her employer’s wife. Her case has been widely publicized in the Philippine media.
Guinomla said embassy officials met Eastern Province Governor Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd recently “and requested his intervention to settle the case.”
“We are also negotiating with the family to reach an out-of-court settlement by paying blood money,” he added.
Three OFWs were recently acquitted of complicity in the murder of a Saudi official, and Guinomla said that the three — Joselito Alejo, R. Cordova and Ramiro Esmero — were already repatriated. The three workers had instead been sentenced to 350 lashes each for retracting their previous confessions, but the sentence was commuted to 75 lashes after the Riyadh governorate intervened.
