Top OFW awardee lauds PGMA's program for 'Global Filipinos

The celebrated case of Marilou Ranario, a Filipina maid who was saved from the gallows for killing her employer in Kuwait through the intercession of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, is a clear proof that the national government is on-hand to protect the lives, welfare and safety of eight million Filipinos working around the world.

Mary Jane Pajarillo Tupaz, the recipient of the 2007 Blas F. Ople Award Para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani, stressed this as she hailed the President's efforts to help not only Ranario, but other similarly situated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are either under detention or facing legal problems abroad.

"What she did to Ranario is a clear indication of her all-out support to millions of OFWs around the globe," Tupaz said in her brief message after she received the Bagong Bayani trophy from the President herself in simple rites at Malacanang this afternoon.

Marilou Ranario was saved from execution after the President personally appealed for her life to the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah who commuted her death sentence to life imprisonment.

Tupaz also said she was very grateful because the government has always been recognizing the efforts of the Filipino workers abroad to help fuel the Philippine economy.

Rising from the ranks, Tupaz, 41, a native of Aklan was appointed director of nursing at the Mohammad Dossary Hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and has spearheaded various medical missions and socio-civic activities for her fellow OFWs.

For his part, Capt. Gregorio S. Oca, president of the Bagong Bayani Foundation, Inc. (BBFI), also lauded the President for helping Ranario and ensuring the protection of lives and welfare of all OFWs.

Organized by the BBFI, the annual international search for Bagong Bayani Awardee is aimed at recognizing and paying

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