17 arrested Pinoys in Qatar granted provisional release —DMW's Cacdac

Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac on Thursday announced the provisional release of the 17 Filipinos arrested in Qatar for unauthorized political demonstration.

At a press briefing, Cacdac said President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. directed concerned authorities to secure the immediate release of the 17 individuals.

''The second and more important, should I say directive of the President, was to secure their immediate release. And with gladness, we report today that—of course, based on the President’s directive to secure the immediate release of the 17 who are still detained, the Qatari authorities in two separate batches – the males around 2:30 A.M. Qatari time and the females around 4 A.M. Qatari time were provisionally released pending investigation,'' Cacdac said.

Cacdac said investigation is still ongoing on the matter, adding that the Filipinos cannot come home yet to Manila.

''So, this means they have their liberty. Pending investigation, they are able to all go home, to their respective homes in Qatar, in Doha and able—yes, able to spend time for themselves and their loved ones,'' Cacdac said.

''They could not travel outside of Qatar while investigations are going on,'' he added.

The DMW chief said no charges have been filed against the 17 rallyists.

He explained, however, that the Filipinos were arrested due to alleged illegal assembly, which can be penalized by six months up to three years imprisonment and a potential fine of 10,000 Qatari Riyals to 50,000 Qatari Riyals subject to the recommendation of the prosecutor and the discretion of the Qatari criminal court.

''No charges have been filed, in fact the President when he gave us instructions to secure immediate release was pointing out the matter on whether or not charges have indeed been filed. And so, our legal counsel in Qatar had put forward this point to the Qatari authorities,'' Cacdac said.

Since the probe is still ongoing, Cacdac said the President also directed concerned agencies to provide legal aid to the Filipinos. Marcos also wants to ensure that the Filipinos were in good medical and physical condition, he added.

Cacdac, meanwhile, expressed gratitude to the government of Qatar for allowing the provisional release of the 17 Filipinos.

''We’re very, very thankful to the Qatari authorities, to the Qatari government for allowing the provisional release of the 17 as the investigation proceed and as directed by the President, legal assistance and welfare assistance will continually be provided to the 17,'' he said. — AOL/RSJ, GMA Integrated News