RIYADH: A number of Filipino workers serving time in Saudi jails for various offenses will be released in Ramadan as part of a general amnesty, according to Ezzedin H. Tago, the Philippine consul general in Jeddah.
Speaking by phone from Manila where he is on an official mission, Tago said that the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs had informed him that some more Filipino workers would be pardoned during the holy month.
Saudi Arabia pardons hundreds of people, both citizens and expatriate residents, jailed for minor crimes at the advent of the holy month of Ramadan every year.
Tago made the statement after confirming a report issued by Vice President Noli De Castro, presidential adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), that the Saudi government in July pardoned 22 Filipino prisoners in Jeddah.
“Their cases involved theft, and drug-related and sex-related crimes,” he said, adding that murder and embezzlement were not covered by the amnesty.
“We appreciate the generous gesture of the Saudi leadership in considering to release more OFWs and for having earlier pardoned 22 Filipinos,” Tago told Arab News.
Breaking the news in Manila, De Castro said, “I’m happy with this positive development and I hope that more Filipinos convicted of minor offenses will be given amnesty during Ramadan.”
