SOME 200 undocumented Filipino workers stranded in Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, including those who stayed under the Al-Khandara bridge in Jeddah, are set to be repatriated early April.

Esteban Conejos Jr., the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) undersecretary for migrant workers affairs, said of the 200 distressed Filipino workers, 140 of them are in Jordan, and the remaining are in Saudi Arabia.

Conejos said the 140 workers in Jordan, have been issued exit visas and given return tickets to Manila.  The 27 overstaying Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia, mostly women, and another 24 in Riyadh, are set to return in April.

At the same time, Conejos said the Philippine Airlines agreed to fly back home the remains of Crisanta Mahusay Lopez Nagano, 33, and her seven-month-old son Naomasa, who died from severe bleeding from knife wounds and from strangulation, respectively, on March 17 at their residence in Higashi, Kurume City in Japan.

Autopsy results conducted by the Japanese police showed that the 33-year-old Nagano succumbed to knife wounds, while her son was strangled by her Japanese husband Masayoshi Nagano.

The DFA official said the suspect is now in the custody of the Japanese authorities while the investigation is still ongoing.

The 43-year-old Nagano surrendered to police last week and confessed that he killed his wife and child because he was worried about an outstanding loan and that he intended to, but could not, kill himself also.

Acting Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, meanwhile, denied that the government has abandoned the stranded workers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, adding the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the agency he heads, has sent funds for their repatriation.

Roque, who was appointed to the Department of Labor and Employment last week, refused to say how much the OWWA released for the repatriation of runaway workers in Jeddah.

About 300 overseas Filipino workers have left their employers in Jeddah, and sought refuge at the Philippine Consulate.

Some of the workers, including women and children, have camped out under a city bridge and revealed they escaped their employers for nonpayment of salaries and other abuses.

“We have already coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs regarding this [repatriation] and we’ve sent the money two weeks ago to purchase tickets for the workers,” Roque said.

The agreement, according to Roque, is that OWWA would be responsible for documented workers while the DFA would take care of illegal workers.

The employers of the stranded workers earlier complained that the government has failed to comply with its promise to immediately repatriate the workers.

The militant group Migrante noted that some of the workers have shouldered their return ticket to Manila as the government is moving slow to process their repatriation.

The group demanded the recall of Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Antonio Villamor and Consul General in Jeddah Ezzedin Tago for their alleged neglect of migrant workers.

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SOME 200 undocumented Filipino workers stranded in Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, including those who stayed under the Al-Khandara bridge in Jeddah, are set to be repatriated early April.