Bello off to Kuwait to save another OFW on death row

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Thursday said he will proceed to Kuwait after the third round of peace talks with the National Democratic Front in Rome to try to save another overseas Filipino worker (OFW) on death row.
In an interview posted on the Facebook page of state media PTV, Bello said he will first facilitate the burial of Jakatia Pawa, the Filipina domestic helper who was executed on Wednesday for killing her employer's 22-year-old daughter in 2007.
"I should be in Kuwait at 8 in the morning. I will look into the remains of Jakatia Pawa and I just found out that she is a Muslim so the relatives decided that she should be buried in Kuwait. We will not anymore have to repatriate the body," Bello said.
"My second purpose in going there is to look into the case of another death row OFW, Mr. Elpidio Nano, who allegedly killed his own co-worker Engr. [Nilo] Macaranas. Matagal na rin ito kagaya ng kay Ms. Pawa, 2008 pa ito," he added.
Bello said he reprimanded one of his assistant labor attaches in the Middle East for her failure to notify him ahead of time about Pawa's execution.
"I was talking to our assistant labor attache this morning and I confronted her with her failure to notify me at the earliest possible time over Ms. Pawa and I did not find her explanation plausible," he said.
However, Bello said his focus now is to save Nano from death row and follow up the negotiations with the Macaranas family who is also Filipino.
"My immediate concern is Mr. Nano whom I can hopefully still save because there is an ongoing negotiation with the relatives of the victim. Kasi Pilipino rin si Engr. Macaranas. We will attempt to get the forgiveness of the family. If we do succeed, we can save the life of Mr. Nano," he said.
Bello added he will also meet with other labor attaches in the Middle East and require them to submit a list of all OFWs in detention, especially those on death row.
"My purpose in going there is to issue a directive to all our labor attaches in Saudi Arabia, including the other countries in the Middle East, to submit to me immediately an inventory of all OFWs who are behind bars, especially those in the death row," he said.
Meanwhile, the Labor chief said Pawa's two children, aged 18 and 16, will each be given P100,000 in financial assistance and scholarships.
Aside from his trip to Kuwait, Bello said he will also fly to Hong Kong on January 29 to meet with OFWs there. —Joseph Tristan Roxas/KBK, GMA News

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