year of working illegally in Bahrain, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) has been reunited with his family in the Philippines. The Department of Foreign Affairs said Thursday Bien Mortilla was repatriated last July 2, after staying in Bahrain since 1995. Mortilla, a former Kuwait-based seafarer, went to Bahrain in 1998 on a tourist visa and decided to stay there, the DFA said on its website posted Thursday. The DFA did not give details of his 15-year stay in Bahrain but said he suffered a stroke but did not seek help from the Philippine embassy in Manama for fear that police would detain him if the mission reported his case to the authorities. “He was initially hesitant to approach the embassy for assistance for fear that if his case would be brought to the immigration authorities, he would be arrested and detained by the police,” the DFA said. The DFA did not say whether the Philippine embassy reported his case to the Bahraini authorities after he sought its help or was just caught by the police. But it said: “His predicament was further complicated (when) he was slapped by the local immigration authorities with a fine of 5,030 Bahraini dinars (BD) or $13,413 (P616,998) for overstaying in the country,” the DFA added. It added: “Philippine Ambassador Ma. Corazon Yap-Bahjin ... made representations on his behalf with the Bahraini Immigration Office and was successful in having the costly penalty waived. “As a result, the Filipino only paid BD 40 or US$106 before he was issued an exit clearance by the Immigration Office.” The DFA said Mortilla thanked the embassy for helping him resolve his case with the Bahraini authorities.
