Pardoned OFW Vecina back in RP Tuesday - DFA

FREE AT LAST. Filipino domestic helper May Vecina has escaped certain death after she was granted a full pardon by the Kuwaiti Emir. – GMANews.TVMANILA, Philippines - The overseas Filipino worker on death row who was pardoned by the Kuwaiti emir is expected to return to the Philippines on Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

The DFA said May Vecina’s repatriation has been moved to June 30 at 8:45 a.m. The Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA) had earlier announced Vecina was to arrive last Wednesday (June 24).

Vecina, the 30-year-old mother of two from North Cotabato province, was found guilty of killing her employer’s seven-year-old son Salem Sulaiman al-Otaib on Jan. 6, 2007.

She 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.

During her trial, Vecina said she suffered physical and mental abuse from her employer that resulted in "temporary insanity." But the Kuwait Supreme Court upheld her sentence of death penalty by hanging.

On July 8, 2008, however, the emir signed a decree commuting Vecina's death sentence to life imprisonment. [See: Kuwaiti ruler commutes OFW May Vecina's death sentence]

And finally on June 1, 2009, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah granted Vecina full pardon for her good behavior during her time at the Kuwaiti Central Jail. [See: Kuwaiti ruler grants full pardon to OFW Vecina] - Kimberly Jane Tan, GMANews.TV

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