Saudi Arabia frees 200 jailed Filipinos (1:40 p.m.)

MANILA -- The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday said around 200 Filipinos who were jailed for petty crimes in Saudi Arabia have been pardoned and repatriated to the Philippines since December last year.

“The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah made vigorous representations on behalf of our Filipinos in jail and endorsed and followed up on their appeals for clemency with Saudi authorities,” said Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr.

The Filipinos were repatriated to the country when The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah issued a royal pardon for petty crime offenders last December 11, 2009.

Records from the DFA showed half of the 200 pardoned are females. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)