Advocate: Remember Jakatia as a hardworking OFW, not as a convict

Jakatia Pawa should not be remembered as a convicted felon but as a hardworking overseas Filipino worker, an OFW advocate said Wednesday, following Pawa's execution in Kuwait.
"It should be made of public record, however, for her to children to know, that for those of us who have been carefully following this case, Jakatia will continue to be known for her courage, conviction, and her innocence," said Susan Ople, head of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center that assists distressed OFWs, in a statement.
Pawa, 42, was sentenced to death in Kuwait for killing her employer's 22-year-old daughter in 2007.
During court hearings, however, Pawa denied killing her employer's daughter, saying the victim's family members had stronger motives to kill her because of an alleged illicit love affair with a male neighbor.
According to Ople, Pawa was innocent of the crime as "[t]here was not a single shred of evidence linking her to the crime scene."
"She had no motive to attack the daughter of her employer in such a violent and gruesome manner," Ople said.
"It was not her DNA found on the murder weapon. And the fact that the same employer had renewed her contract in the past showed a certain degree of trust and appreciation between the two parties."
Ople said the Blas F. Ople Policy Center is extending its deepest sympathies to Pawa's family.
"It was sad that her immediate family did not have the chance to personally see her for a last embrace, a final farewell," she said. —KBK, GMA News

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