Death by hanging seen for Kuwaiti couple behind killing of OFW


Published 
By Roy Mabasa
Presidential Adviser on OFW Abdullah Mama-o on Sunday expressed confidence that the Kuwaiti couple who were earlier charged with killing overseas Filipino worker Jeanelyn Villavende may be meted with death by hanging.
(Photos by DFA-OUMWA and Nilo Palaya via DFA Website / MANILA BULLETIN)
(Photos by DFA-OUMWA and Nilo Palaya via DFA Website / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a telephone interview, Mama-o said this possibility could be gleaned from how the Kuwaiti judiciary handled previous other cases involving Filipino workers like the celebrated Joanna Demafeliz case.
“If you will care to look at the previous decisions of Kuwait on cases involving our OFWs, there’s the possibility that this couple would be sentenced to hanging,” he said.
In February, 2018, the body of Demafeliz was found inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.
Demafeliz’ employers, Mouna Ali Hassoun, a Syrian national, and her husband, Lebanese national Nader Essam Assaf, have been sentenced to death by hanging by the Kuwaiti Criminal Court in 2018. Both were tried in absentia.
Mama-o said Undersecretary Edwin Bael from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on OFWs is now in the Gulf State attending the ongoing joint committee hearing with their Kuwaiti counterparts to discuss the Villevende case and the ongoing deployment ban being implemented by the Philippine government.
The Philippine position at the moment, according to Mamao is to follow President Duterte’s statement expressing confidence in Kuwait’s judicial system.
He said the President is “satisfied” with the recent arrest of Villavende’s employers who are both facing murder charges.
Apart from the case of Villavende, Mama-o was also instructed by President Duterte to coordinate with Middle East leaders to ensure the safety and welfare of the nearly two million OFWs in case the situation in the region worsens.
He said the State of Qatar has generously offered to become a halfway hub of OFWs who would seek repatriation under an emergency situation.

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