Three Pinoys nabbed for protesting outside PHL Embassy in Riyadh now free, activists say

, GMA News

 The three Filipinos who were arrested on Saturday after holding a “peaceful protest” outside the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have been freed, the migrant workers group Migrante International said.

“As of 12:30pm, KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) time, the three OFWs  (0verseas Filipino workers) arrested by the Saudi police have been released,” Migrante said in a statement posted on its website.

Migrante identified those arrested as Lyndon Salonga, Juan Carlos and Jon Jon de Vera.

They were eventually released and reportedly dropped off at an area far from the campout site, Migrante noted.

In a separate statement, Migrante said "they were holding their peaceful protest outside the PH post compound when Riyadh POLO (Philippine Overseas Labor Office) Case Officer Abdullah Umpa arrived with the Saudi police.”

“It was Umpa who pinpointed to the Saudi police who to arrest. Imbes na harapin ng gobyerno ang ating mga OFW sila pa mismo ang nagpaaresto sa kanila. Traydor ang gobyernong ito sa mismong mamamayan niya,” Garry Martinez, Migrante International Chairperson, alleged in the same statement.

GMA News Online contacted the Philippine Embassy in Saudi but no official was immediately available to confirm if three Filipinos were indeed arrested but later freed.

There is also still no confirmation from the embassy whether some Filipinos staged a campout at the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, similar to the campout being undertaken by some undocumented Filipinos in Jeddah.

Offshoot of campout in Jeddah

Migrante noted that the protest held by the Filipinos in Riyadh was an offshoot of the campout in Jeddah, where some 1,000 Filipinos have been camping out since April 11.

The campout in Jeddah happened after the Saudi government ordered a crackdown on undocumented foreign workers.

The crackdown operations started on March 28 this year because of the “Saudization” policy (nitaqat) or the policy encouraging the employment of Saudi nationals in private firms.

The migrant workers advocacy group Migrante-Middle East said undocumented Filipinos started camping outside the Philippine Consulate on April 11, or five days after the Saudi King announced a three-month reprieve on the crackdown against illegal workers.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on April 6 ordered a three-month delay to a crackdown on illegal migrant workers that has led to thousands of deportations.

The reprieve, which will end on July 4 this year, aims to give foreigners in the kingdom a chance to sort out their papers.

Warning vs. public rallies

The embassy earlier reminded Filipinos in Saudi Arabia that "public rallies and protests are a violation of Saudi law, and impacts on the ability of the Embassy to deliver much-needed consular services to the Filipino community."
 
For now, the embassy said it is taking information of overstaying Filipinos for documentation purposes, and endorsing these cases to the concerned Saudi authorities.
 
Meanwhile, the embassy advised Filipinos to call the following numbers for information regarding assistance the Embassy can extend:
  • Jeddah and regions under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah (Regions of Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Tabuk, Al-Madinah, Abha, Jizan, Najran): 0555-219-613/0561-956-142
  • Riyadh, Hail, Qassim, Northern Border, Al-Jouf: 054-591-7834
  • Eastern Region: 050-126-9742
- VVP, GMA News

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