20 April 2006 – Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Rafael  E. Seguis summoned to the Department of Foreign Affairs H. E.  Mohammed Ameen Mohammed Wali, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to express the concern of the Philippine Government over the reported mass arrest of OFWs in Jeddah in connection with the investigation by police authorities on missing Filipinos and on certain illegal activities.

At a meeting at his DFA office at 5:00 p.m., Acting Secretary Seguis informed Ambassador Wali that “H. E. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo expresses concern over the reported  arrest and detention of a large number of Filipino workers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and emphasizes the importance of respecting the rights of the Filipinos, of access by Philippine consular officials to the detained OFWs in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and of ensuring the physical well-being of the OFWs during detention and investigation.”  (Please refer to the accompanying photo release on this subject matter.)

Prior to the meeting, Consul General Pendosina N. Lomondot of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah reported to the DFA on 17 April 2006 that “52 OFWs (6 of whom are women) are under detention for questioning” in connection with the discovery by the Jeddah police on 4 April 2006 of human body parts inside black garbage plastic bags in the Sina’alayh district in the south of Jeddah and the police investigation on the reported missing OFWs and on illegal activities such as drug trafficking, trading and consumption of liquor and  gambling or lottery.    (The Department will not disclose the names of the arrested OFWs to respect the right to privacy of the Filipinos and their families.)

Consul General Lomondot also reported that there are now only three missing OFWs from the previous six OFWs reported missing. (Please refer to press release SFA-AGR-301-06, dated 18 April 2006, for the background information.)  The three OFWs were found by Consulate officials to be among those arrested by the Jeddah police.   One of the three OFWs previously reported missing is under detention in the police station and “is in good physical condition and would only be released to his mother,” the Consul General  further reported.

In a separate report on 19 April 2006, Consul General Lomondot said that as a result of the investigation by the Jeddah police, the three missing OFWs were confirmed dead after their  alleged assailants, two OFWs who were earlier arrested, admitted to the offense.  The Consul General further reported that the two suspects also implicated two other OFWs as accessories, who were arrested and detained on 16 April 2006 by the Jeddah police.   (Please refer to the separate press release on this subject matter. The Department will not disclose  the names of the four suspects.)

Regarding the OFWs under detention, Consul General Lomondot said Lt. Col. Abdulrahman Al-Malki, Chief of Intelligence of the Janoobiyah Police Station, assured that “those found innocent will be released to their respective employers or sponsors as soon as possible.”   The Consul General personally met Lt. Col. Al-Malki on 17 April 2006 to follow-up on the status of the investigation and detention of the OFWs as well as on the search for the missing OFWs.

After a briefing on the report of Consul General Lomondot, Acting Secretary Seguis requested Ambassador Wali for “an assurance that the legal rights of those Filipinos who have been arrested and detained are respected in accordance with the international laws on human rights.”  The Acting Secretary stressed that the “Philippines respects the judicial process in Saudi Arabia as it pertains to the detained OFWs but in the enforcement of the laws, the OFWs should be informed of the specific charge against them,  be given the right to have a counsel during interrogation that should be conducted without force or violence and have access to officials of the Embassy or Consulate General.”

For his part, Ambassador Wali said that he will forward to his Government the concerns of President Arroyo on the arrest of the Filipinos as well as on the sentiments expressed by the DFA during the meeting with Acting Secretary Seguis.  Ambassador Wali added that he will stress to his Government the request of the Philippines for assurance on the legal rights of the arrested and detained OFWs as well as their access to consular officials.

The Saudi Ambassador assured the Acting Secretary that he will promptly act on the matters raised during the meeting and will inform the Department of his Government’s reply.

Undersecretary Esteban B. Conejos, Jr. and Executive Director Pedro Chan of the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs, DFA, also attended the meeting.  END