OWWA assistance awaits pardoned OFW Lanuza upon return


Assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA)  awaits overseas Filipino worker Rodelio "Dondon" Lanuza upon his return to the Philippines after 13 years in a Saudi Arabian jail.

OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon said her agency will give special consideration to Lanuza even if he has not been a regular OWWA member due to his long incarceration, radio dzBB's Sam Nielsen reported.

The report quoted Dimzon as saying the OWWA will still send a team to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to welcome Lanuza and offer him assistance in reintegrating into Philippine society.

Lanuza is expected to arrive at the NAIA Terminal 1 aboard an Etihad Airways flight at 3:20 p.m., the dzBB report said Wednesday evening.

A report on Arab News quoted Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin Tago as saying Lanuza was booked on a late night flight home.

It said Lanuza sent a text message thanking Tago and the embassy for their help.

On Wednesday, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Lanuza is finally arriving home after 13 long years in a Saudi jail.

Binay, the presidential adviser on OFW concerns, said Lanuza is expected to go straight to his home in Sampaloc in Manila.

Lanuza was jailed in 2000 for killing a Saudi national who Lanuza said tried to rape him. Despite his claim of self-defense, the Saudi high court sentenced him to death.
 
Lanuza was pardoned after the victim’s family received SR3 million (P35 million) in blood money. Of the amount, the Philippine government and Lanuza's supporters raised SR700,000 while King Abdullah shouldered the rest. — KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more