Palace: Gov't providing assistance to all Pinoys on death row abroad

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella on Saturday assured that the government is doing everything to save all overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who are on death row abroad.
"Sa simula't sapul niyan, talagang inaasikaso 'yan ng ating DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) tsaka DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) ano. Kaya lang each one is a particular case and each one is a particular situation pero pinaglaban natin lahat," Abella said in a radio interview.
He said "top caliber" lawyers are handling the cases of the Filipinos on death row.
The DFA had said that at least 88 Filipinos are on death row abroad.
"Katulad po nung si Ms. Pawa ano, eh talagang, according to DFA, we sent top caliber, we hired top caliber lawyers kaya lang talagang hindi talaga siya, mukhang ano talaga 'yung kaso against her seemed to be tilted against her, parang ganon. Pero hindi po tayo pabaya sa kapakanan ng ating mga kapwa Pilipino abroad," Abella added.
Jakatia Pawa, convicted for the murder of her employer's 22-year-old daughter in 2007, was executed in Kuwait on Wednesday.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) had said that the government will lose the moral ascendancy to act in behalf of Filipinos on death row abroad with the Duterte administration's push for the reimposition of the death penalty in the country.
Abella said the Palace understands "where the CBCP is coming from."
"However, we also have to understand na 'yung katulad ng ano, may mga alleged crimes kasi na kinondemn ng mga certain countries lalo sa may bandang Middle East. But we have to understand that they operate from a different set of rules."
Abella said that Kuwait go by Shariah and not by western civil law.
"Iba po 'yung kanilang pamaraan. So hindi po natin sinasabing hindi natin pinaglalaban 'yan. However, we cannot claim ascendancy but we can claim perhaps clemency and mercy depending on the merit of each case, not simply because we have certain laws that --- not because we do not have yet the death penalty but we have to discuss each one of the merit of each case," he added. —Marlly Rome C. Bondoc/ALG, GMA News

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