A female overseas Filipino worker was saved from the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and has returned to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The DFA did not identify the worker but described her as an "unwitting drug mule."
The DFA did not say how the OFW gained freedom. It only said she was saved through the efforts of the Philippine consulate in Jeddah and the law firm it engaged to assist the OFW.
Quoting reports from the consulate, the DFA said the OFW was imprisoned in Jeddah on Oct 9, 2013 after she was arrested for possession of illegal drugs. The drugs were found in the luggage she was carrying for a representative of her deployment agency in Manila, it said.
The DFA said the OFW was recommended by the Jeddah prosecution office to be put to death for drug smuggling and fined 100,000 Saudi riyals (about P1.4 million)
The OFW was repatriated to Manila on March 27 along with 4 other female OFWs after they completed their respective prison sentences in various detention facilities in the western region of Saudi Arabia.
The DFA also did not identify the 4 other OFWs.
Around 2.4 million Filipinos are living and working in the Middle East, with 1.2 million of them found in Saudi Arabia working in oil fields and medicine, service industries and as household helpers.
Source: malaya.com.ph, April 3, 2018
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