GMA brings home some 200 pardoned OFWs

By DAVID CAGAHASTIANPresident Arroyo will arrive in Manila at 1:30 p.m. today after a four-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, together with more than 200 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have been released from prison, and with commitments for more investments and a stable oil supply for the country.
Mrs. Arroyo’s plane will arrive at the Villamor Air Base from the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, Dammam, along with another chartered plane carrying some 200 OFWs who had been pardoned for various crimes by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, as a token of appreciation for the close ties between Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Marianito Roque said King Abdullah facilitated the release and exit requirements of the more than 200 OFWs he had pardoned for various crimes so they could return with President Aquino to the country today.
The mass pardon given by King Abdullah during Mrs. Arroyo’s state visit this week is the first in Saudi Arabia history, Malacañang said.
Roque said some of the pardoned OFWs were convicted of serious crimes, including company embezzlement and other crimes which demand the payment of "blood money."
King Abdullah will reportedly shoulder all financial claims against the pardoned OFWs.
Mrs. Arroyo wrapped up her four-day state visit to Saudi Arabia yesterday with a meeting with executives of Saudi Aramco, the country’s national oil company which manages a quarter of the world’s total proven reserves of oil estimated at 260 billion barrels.
Mrs. Arroyo toured Saudi Aramco’s facilities and head office in Dammam.
Mrs. Arroyo had earlier said Saudi Oil Minister and Saudi Aramco Chairman of the Board of Directors Ali Al-Naimi had committed to provide a stable supply of oil to the Philippines, assuring that in the "unlikely event of disruptions in the oil supply to the Philippines, Saudi Arabia is willing to make up for the shortfall."
Saudi Arabia supplies 56.3 percent of the country’s oil needs through Petron, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and the Philippine National Oil Company, according to the Department of Energy.
In a meeting with the OFW community in the city of Al-Khobar in Dammam last Tuesday, Mrs. Arroyo spoke of commitments from Saudi businessmen to invest in the Philippines.
"You are the best investment promoters and ambassadors of goodwill to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. That’s why they are agreeable to proposals to invest in the Philippines," Mrs. Arroyo told the OFWs.
Mrs. Arroyo cited the competence and professionalism of OFWs in Saudi Arabia as the Philippines’ biggest "come-on" for attracting Saudi investments, particularly in the fields of mining, agriculture, energy, and information and communications technology.
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