'DFA officials' ignorance of Saudi laws causing backlog of OFW cases'

MANILA, Philippines - An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) advocate on Wednesday said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is having problems solving cases of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia due to ignorance or lack of appreciation by the department’s personnel of Saudi laws. In an e-mail to GMANews.TV, Joseph Henry Espiritu of OFW-SOS and Patnubay.com, a site for OFWs in Saudi Arabia , said the lack of manpower does prevent the DFA from solving more cases but its ignorance of Saudi laws also contributes to the pileup. Quoting Ellene Tolentino of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (Oumwa), Espiritu said: If you ask DFA officials what the problem was, they would say “ang justice system ng Saudi Arabia kasi ang problema (The justice system of Saudi Arabia is the problem)." “Justice system nga ba ang problema o ang kanilang kawalang-alam sa justice system ng Saudi Arabia ? (Is the justice system the problem or their ignorance of Saudi’s justice system?)," Espiritu asked. Deprived of legal advice One of the cases Espiritu cited as an example was that of Teresita Santos, a sewer who was gang-raped by three Saudi and two Chad nationals in 2005 in Jeddah. The suspects were convicted and sentenced to four years in jail, with 500 lashes each. However, Santos complained that the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah deprived her of proper legal advice that almost caused her to lose claim to her private rights. According to Espiritu, Oumwa executive director Crescente Relacion said “palagi naman magkasama ang public and private (public and private rights always come together)." “See? Isang director ng Oumwa ay walang alam sa justice system ng Saudi Arabia (A director of Oumwa knows nothing about the justice system of Saudi Arabia )," he said. In a letter-complaint submitted to the DFA, Santos said it was only through the help of fellow OFWs that she was able to file a case to claim for her private rights and accused the consulate’s Assistance to Nationals Unit personnel of blocking the hearings. In the case of Pedro Mabanto, who was accused of killing a fellow worker in Riyadh, it took three years before the Oumwa obtained a special power of attorney from the Saudi court and later on set a meeting between the families of the two OFWs. Moreover, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and DFA officials in Manila reportedly refused to provide the family of Mabanto a copy of a pair of medical reports showing that the victim died of natural cause, specifically of a heart attack. Espiritu said the DFA gave Mabanto the “benefit of the doubt" only after the .court acquitted him of murder charges three years later. “Baligtad yata (I think it’s the other way around)," Espiritu commented. Never negligent In his defense, Relacion told GMANews.TV in a phone interview on Thursday that Espiritu is resurrecting a “very old issue" that has since been resolved. When asked about Espiritu’s claim that he knows very little about Saudi Arabian laws, he said, “That’s his own opinion and he is entitled to that." Relacion said he is well aware of the difference between the private and public rights of a citizen in Saudi Arabia. He also dared Espiritu to provide a solid proof to back his claims. “That’s his opinion. Our embassy and consulate officials are doing their best," he said. He also explained that the Philippine government has never been negligent of overseas Filipinos in distress, especially those on death row. “May mga lawyers naman ang mga OFWs there na facing death sentences. Malaki nga ang binabayaran natin sa mga Saudi Arabian lawyers (We have lawyers for OFWs facing the death row. We even pay a lot to Saudi Arabian lawyers taking care of their cases there)," he said. An attempt to educate According to the Espiritu, he e-mailed DFA and Philippine Embassy officials late last year copies of the laws of Saudi Arabia, especially the Laws of Criminal Procedure. He said he wanted to make sure that they read the files so he made the copies unprintable, effectively forcing them to read it on the computer or not at all. Espiritu said that as expected, they told him “Joseph thanks pero pwede ba bigyan mo naman kami ng printable file? (but can you give us printable files).“ He said at least they asked for a printable copy, instead of pretending to know the laws or that they have copies of it. However, he said this proved that government officials tasked to protect OFWs were really ignorant of the laws of Saudi Arabia . In addition, Espiritu said that it is not enough that they know the laws because that is just additional knowledge. “Kailangan sa mga nagtrabaho dyan sa Oumwa ay may puso para sa aming mga OFWs (What is needed from those working in Oumwa is to have a ‘heart’ for us OFWs," he said. Relacion, however, said that he would look into the copy of the Saudi laws Espiritu sent to the Oumwa office. - GMANews.TV