MANILA, Philippines – Citing the huge number of illegal Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia, the Philippines on Wednesday, October 30, said it appealed to Saudi Arabia for another extension to legalize the workers’ status.

In a letter on Tuesday, October 29, Vice President Jejomar Binay requested the king of Saudi, Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to extend the deadline set on November 3.

Saudi had already extended the deadline to November 3 from the original July 3. Violators face up to two years in prison and fines of at least 100,000 riyal or $27,000.

Binay wrote: “As I acknowledge that thousands of Filipinos have already benefited from this humanitarian Royal Decree, I respectfully appeal for an extension of the November 3, 2013 deadline for foreign workers to correct their employment status in the Kingdom.”

Binay, the presidential adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers’ Concerns, told him the Philippine government “is exerting its utmost to assist undocumented Filipino workers legalize their status.”

“However, due to the large number of Filipino workers seeking correction of their employment status, many of them may not be able to meet the 3 November deadline,” Binay said.

PH braces for sanctions

The Philippines on Tuesday vowed to help illegal Filipino workers who face imprisonment in Saudi Arabia, among other sanctions. (READ: PH braces for Saudi sanctions vs illegal workers.)

In a last-ditch attempt to assist illegal Filipino workers, Philippine government officials flew to Saudi on Tuesday, October 29, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Raul Hernandez said.

“We will try our best to help them in being able to pay the fines and penalties of our Filipinos who would like to be repatriated after the grace period,” Hernandez said in a press briefing.

“That is exactly our mandate – to help everyone who would like to be repatriated or regularized,” he added.

The Philippines has flown back 4,302 undocumented Filipinos from Saudi as of Monday, October 28, Hernandez said.

That’s only 47.8% of the 9,000 Filipino workers who initially said they wanted repatriation.

Hernandez said over 1,500 workers await immigration clearances. – Rappler.com