75-year-old Pinay repatriated from Riyadh

A 75-five-year old overseas Filipino worker, Irene Sto. Domingo, arrived in the Philippines on Wednesday from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia via Gulf Airways. A statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said Sto. Domingo was escorted during her return trip by Maribel Carisusa of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Riyadh. The DFA said Sto. Domingo could not leave Saudi Arabia right away because of the difficulty in securing an exit visa from her original employer. Sto. Domingo, of Sta. Cruz, Manila, reportedly left the Philippines in 1985 to work as a seamstress in Riyadh. In 2001, she reportedly left her employer due to unpaid salaries and had since worked in the Kingdom as an undocumented worker. Exit visa The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh negotiated with the Saudi government and the immigration authorities for the issuance of Sto. Domingo's exit visa. According to the DFA, the Embassy, along with POLO-Riyadh, provided her temporary shelter at the Filipino Workers Resource Center Bahay Kalinga while her repatriation was being facilitated. Sto. Domingo was also provided medication free of charge during her period of stay there, the DFA said. – VVP, GMA News