Ten Filipinos who were recently freed from the Al Hair jail in Saudi Arabia have returned to the Philippines early this week, a migrant group has said.

In an e-mail sent to GMANews.TV, Joseph Espiritu of OFW-SOS and Patnubay.com identified the 10 as Joel Jusay, Joseph Evangelista, Ramon Cruz, Pablo Domen, Edgardo Terona, Roel Concepcion, Angelito Mendoza, Marlon Amistad, Joselito Asulis, and Benjamin Bacalso.

Espiritu said that the release of the 10 men leaves only five Filipinos among those who were held in the prison last year.

However, he said, about 200 more Filipino inmates just recently entered Al Hair, a prison for violators of Saudi rules such consumption of alcoholic drinks, banned drugs and pork.

Through the years, Philippine Embassy officials have been appealing on members of the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia to respect locals laws and culture to avoid getting in trouble.

Ambassador Antonio Villamor had earlier lamented that the big number of Filipinos getting imprisoned for such avoidable cases as alcohol-related offenses is zapping the embassy's resources that would better be used to assist distressed Pinoys such as the runaway maids, rape victims and those fighting for unpaid wages.

“I hope Filipinos would stop doing these kinds of things and learn to respect the laws of Saudi Arabia. They should also avoid committing violations so that nobody else would get affected by their actions," Espiritu said in Filipino.

He said the early release of the 10 were made possible with the urgent action taken by incumbent Philippine officials, who he said have shown more responsiveness than their predecessors.

“Maraming salamat kay Vice Consul (Roussel) Reyes, at kay Usec (Undersecretary Rafael) Seguis, Bobby Akraman at Jimmy Harris. Malaki po ang pagbabago …," said Espiritu, one of the proverbial unsung heroes helping distressed Filipinos in Saudi Arabia.

Nonetheless, Espiritu said his group will not stop monitoring the performance of Philippine Embassy officials and staff in Saudi Arabia to keep them on their toes.

“Sana darating ang panahon na ang tututukan nating lahat ay yong mga kaso totoong naabuso at hindi yong mga kaso na sariling kagagawan ni kabayan," he said.

[I hope the time comes when the cases of the abused, not the cases that Filipinos commit, will be our focus.] - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV