MANILA — The Department of Migrant Workers on Tuesday reiterated its call for overseas Filipino workers to respect the laws of their host countries, following the arrest of several Filipinos in Qatar for conducting an illegal political assembly in support of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said several countries have taken note of recent mass actions and are currently monitoring the activities of Filipino communities.

“So, mag-ingat lang po – doble, triple ingat at sundin ang patakarang batas ng host country,” Cacdac said in a televised briefing.

Malacanang earlier announced that the Qatari government will no longer file charges against the 17 Filipinos arrested last month following their provisional release a few days ago.

“So, their lives will hopefully—of the 17, will hopefully be back to normal, they can move on, learn from this incident, kasi alam naman natin na sa mga kababayan natin kailangan talagang sumunod sa regulation from host country, lalo na sa aspeto ng mass actions or assembly. Dito sa Qatar, nagkaroon ng arrest pero hindi naman kailangan humantong sa arrest para maging maingat, ‘di ba,” Cacdac said.

Malacañang earlier said the cases against 17 Filipinos who were arrested in Qatar for participating in a recent illegal assembly have been dismissed, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. directly talked to Qatari ambassador to the Philippines Ahmed Saad Al-Homidi to resolve the problem.

Unauthorized public demonstrations are illegal under Qatar's law and gatherings and protests require approval from the government.

Three of the 20 arrested Filipinos were still minors and were the first to be released. The other members of the group were given provisional release last week.

Palace: Cases vs Filipinos in pro-Duterte rally in Qatar dismissed