2 OFWs in Saudi convicted for drug possession

A Philippine official in Saudi Arabia has confirmed that two overseas Filipino workers in Riyadh have recently been convicted for possession of illegal drugs. But Vice Consul Roussel Reyes declined to confirm if the two were indeed sentenced to three years in prison and 600 lashes as reported by Migrante-Middle East, a migrant advocacy group based in Riyadh. According to Reyes, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh has already forwarded the workers’ case to the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for appropriate action. “We have already identified (the workers)," Reyes said without elaborating. DFA Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. could not be reached for comment as of posting time, as repeated calls and a message to his phone remained unanswered. In a statement, Migrante-Middle East said the two male workers were accused of possessing illegal drugs and have been detained in a Saudi jail since their arrest on July 13. According to Migrante regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona, OFWs Jason and Salvador (not their real names) were deployed by Al Jazira Manpower Services in January 2006 and August 2009, respectively. The two, an architect and a tile setter in Hail City in Saudi, have maintained their innocence on the charges, Monterona said. According to Migrante, the victims’ families narrated that on July 30 this year, Jason and Salvador were arrested in a raid of their company-provided accommodation. The police entered their room, searched and seized some of their personal belongings, and handcuffed them after allegedly finding a sachet of heroin in their room, their families said. Saudi’s lower court found the two guilty in a decision issued on October 4. “They were sentenced to three years imprisonment plus 600 lashes," said Monterona, citing the story of the brother of one of the workers who is also working in Saudi Arabia. Monterona said the two OFWs may have been victims of a frame-up. The family and relatives of the two OFWs sought assistance from Migrante in Manila, claiming DFA’s OUMWA refused to provide legal assistance to the two due to lack of funds to hire a Shariah (Islamic law) lawyer. “We won’t buy this ‘no legal assistance fund’ alibi, as there are enough unused funds for legal assistance for OFWs from the DFA, as previously revealed by Budget Sec. Florencio Abad, who cited P52.6-million and P67.7-million balances from 2009 and 2010, respectively," Monterona said. Early last month, it was revealed that the Aquino administration approved only P27 million in Legal Assistance Fund (LAF) for OFWs, even as the amended Migrant Workers' Act mandates an allocation of P100 million for LAF. For the LAF, P50 million should come from the President’s contingency fund, P30 million from the President’s social fund, and P20 million from the Overseas Workers Welfare Fund. The LAF is used to provide legal services to migrant workers and overseas Filipinos in distress, such as hiring foreign lawyers, paying for bail bonds for the temporary release of detained workers, and shouldering court fees and charges and other litigation expenses. Monterona is thus urging the Embassy extend immediate assistance to the two Filipinos, saying that such neglect is “unpardonable". - KBK, GMANews.TV