At least 79 Filipino migrant workers serving prison terms for petty crimes in Saudi Arabia welcomed King Abdullah's order for royal pardon to prisoners like them, the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper in Manila said., The jailed Filipinos have expressed hope they would be included in the royal pardon, the paper quoted John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator of the Riyadh-based militant workers' group Migrante-Middle East. as saying. “The 79 overseas Filipino workers are confident their names will be included in the applications for pardon (to be filed by the Philippine embassy in the Saudi capital),” it quoted Monterona as saying in an e-mail to media outfits Tuesday. The OFWs are “languishing at the Malaz Central Jail in Riyadh for petty crimes, such as illegal possession of liquor, engaging in gambling activities, and violating other culture-related laws of the host country,” according to Monterona. Monerona said he got a call Monday from Arnulfo Alcantara, one of the jailed OFWs, when he learned about the “good news.” Alcantara, 45, has been in jail for three months now for alleged illegal possession of liquor, said Monterona, He was reportedly picked up sometime in October 2009 along with three other OFWs. The 79 OFWs have denied the charges against them and claimed they were framed, the paper said. “The jailed OFWs are expecting assistance from the Philippine embassy and were hoping the country's diplomatic mission would waste no time in applying for their release by virtue of the royal pardon granted by King Abdullah.” According to Monterona, “petty crimes here in Saudi Arabia carry jail terms ranging from six months to one year.” “But there's a problem. Even the Philippine embassy does not have a complete list of OFWs in jail. We have repeatedly asked them for an update on how many OFWs are serving jail terms here to no avail,” he said. There are more or less 3,000 jailed OFWs in Saudi Arabia, according to Migrante-Middle East estimates.
