Press Release No. 13-2018

PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL IN JEDDAH SAVES OFW FROM DEATH PENALTY; REPATRIATES MORE FILIPINO DETAINEES AS PART OF THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT’S NON-STOP EFFORTS TO HELP OFWS IN DISTRESS

26 March 2018 JEDDAH – The concerted representations of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah and its retainer law firm saved a female OFW from the death penalty and a fine of one hundred thousand Saudi Riyal (SAR 100,000.00).

The OFW is an unwitting Filipino drug-mule who was imprisoned in Jeddah for almost five (5) years. She was arrested by Saudi authorities in 09 October 2013 after illegal drugs were found in the luggage she was carrying for a representative of her deployment agency in the Philippines. The prosecution office in Jeddah recommended that she be put to death for smuggling a large quantity of illegal drugs into the Kingdom.

The OFW and four (4) other female OFWSs were repatriated to the Philippines today after completing their respective prison sentences in various detention facilities in the western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah will continue monitoring the cases of detained Filipinos under its jurisdiction to ensure that their rights under Saudi law are protected. END