Manila: Outgoing Philippines President Benigno Aquino has thanked the Emir of Qatar for releasing 15 jailed Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) at the start of Ramadan.
“We give thanks to the Emir of Qatar, Shaikh [Hamad] Bin Khalifa Al Thani, for their pardoning,” Aquino’s spokesman Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said.
“This is a manifestation of continuing good relationship between the Philippines and Qatar,” Coloma said.
Preparations are underway for the repatriation of the pardoned OFWs, said Manila’s foreign affairs department. The names of the pardoned prisoners have not been released.
Qatar hosts 172,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). Of these, 23,000 are professionals; 86,000 highly skilled; 30,000 semi or low-skilled; and 30,000 household service workers, the labour department said.
Demand for OFWs rose from 85,510 in 2014 to 104,872 in 2015, an increase of 19,362, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
A total of more than 10 million OFWs are based worldwide. The number represents 10 per cent of the country’s population of 100 million.
