OFW faces death for killing Pinay in Kuwait

Protesters trumpet their calls to save OFW Marilou Ranario from execution in Kuwait earlier this year.

GMANews.TVMANILA, Philippines - A 29-year-old Filipino worker who stabbed to death Filipina in Kuwait was sentenced to death on Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed.

Bienvenido de Vera Espino was found guilty last Sunday of premeditated murder of a Filipina OFW by Kuwait's Criminal Circuit Court (Trial Court) and sentenced him to death by beheading.

"Immediately after the verdict, Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya conferred with Espino's lawyer and instructed him to appeal the case to the Court of Appeals," the DFA statement read.

Reports said Espino confronted Filipina Jhias Gumapac on October 30, 2007. Espino allegedly only planned to threaten the victim for her refusal to pay for the laptop he loaned to her.

But the confrontation ended in a scuffle and the accused stabbed the victim 33 times.

Three other domestic helpers from the Philippines have recently been convicted of murder in this small oil-rich Gulf state. Their death sentences are final and appeals have been exhausted.

Jakatia Mandon Pawa, Marilou Ranario and May Vecina face death by hanging unless the country's emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, commutes their sentences or the families of the victims forgive them.

Last December, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made a special trip to Kuwait to plead for Ranario's life. At the time, the president's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said Sabah promised to reduce the penalty to life imprisonment if the victim's family sign a forgiveness note.

However, there has been no announcement to that effect from Kuwaiti authorities.
Conejos assured that they are still employing “soft diplomacy" in the cases of Ranario and Vecina. -GMANews.TV

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