Arroyo approves $25K appeal fund for OFW on death row in Kuwait

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has approved a $25,000 fund to be used in appealing the case of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Kuwait whose death sentence was recently affirmed by an appellate court.

In a statement released Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that it will use the fund of almost P1.2 million to appeal the case of OFW Jakatia Pawa with Kuwait’s Court of Cassation, which is equivalent to the Philippine Supreme Court.

Pawa, 33, of Zamboanga Del Norte province in the southern Philippines, was sentenced to death on April 13, 2008 for killing her employer’s 22-year-old daughter.

She has denied the allegation and said one of the family members might have committed the crime.

After the Kuwait Court of Appeals upheld the death sentence earlier this week, DFA Secretary Alberto G. Romulo immediately directed Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya to facilitate the filing of an appeal within 30 days.

The appeal will be done in consultation with Pawa’s lawyers, said the DFA.

The Court of Appeals ruling came after the emir of Kuwait granted full pardon to May Vecina, another Filipino domestic helper who was sentenced to death for killing her employer’s seven-year-old son Salem Sulaiman al-Otaib on January 6, 2007.

Vecina, a 30-year-old mother of two from North Cotabato province, was also accused of attempting to kill the victim’s 13-year-old brother Abdulla by slitting the boy’s throat, and his 17-year-old sister Hajer by stabbing her.

At her trial, Vecina said she suffered physical and mental abuse from her employer that resulted in "temporary insanity."

The Kuwait Supreme Court upheld her death sentence, but following a personal appeal by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah signed a decree on July 8, 2008 commuting Vecina's death sentence to life imprisonment.

Earlier this month, the emir granted Vecina full pardon for her good behavior during her time at the Kuwaiti Central Jail.

The emir also commuted the death sentence on another Filipino maid, Marilou Ranario, when President Arroyo visited the oil-rich country in 2007.

Ranario was convicted for murdering her female employer in 2005. – Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV

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