Kuwaiti ruler grants full pardon to OFW Vecina

(Updated 6:30 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines - May Vecina, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) whose death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, has been fully pardoned by the ruler of Kuwait. In a statement, Vice President Noli De Castro said Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah granted Vecina full pardon for her good behavior during her time at the Kuwaiti Central Jail. “Ito ay napakagandang balita para sa ating bayan lalo na sa pamilya at mahal sa buhay ni May [This is good news for all of us, especially for Vecina’s family and loved ones]," said De Castro. The Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the development on Vecina's case and said that the pardon for the OFW was also made possible through the efforts by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Arroyo, in her recent trip to the Middle East, was said to have asked for the pardon of Vecina and the rest of the Filipinos facing the death row in the oil-rich region. "DFA Sec. Alberto Romulo has welcomed the grant of pardon and has expressed his appreciation to the Kuwaiti emir for his magnanimity and compassion," the DFA said. The 30-year-old mother of two from North Cotabato province was found guilty of killing her employer’s seven-year-old son Salem Sulaiman al-Otaib on January 6, 2007. She was also accused of attempting to kill the victim’s 13-year-old brother Abdulla by slitting the boy’s throat, and his 17-year-old sister Hajer by stabbing her. At her trial, Vecina said she suffered physical and mental abuse from her employer that resulted in "temporary insanity." But the Kuwait Supreme Court upheld her sentence of death penalty by hanging. On July 8, 2008, however, the emir signed a decree commuting Vecina's death sentence to life imprisonment. [See: Kuwaiti ruler commutes OFW May Vecina's death sentence] "After the reprieve and commutation of her sentence, our efforts to bring her back safely to her family finally bore fruit," said De Castro. "I thank the Filipino people for their prayers and we are very grateful to the Kuwaiti government and the emir for his compassion, in giving May a new lease in life," he added. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ed Malaya told GMANews.TV in a phone interview from Laos that the Kuwaiti government has not given a specific time frame for the OFW's return home. "We expect her to be repatriated shortly. The director for women's department of Sulaibiya Central Jail has already submitted the commendations for repatriation," Malaya said. On the other hand, Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya was quoted by Kuwaiti media as saying that Vecina will be able to come home to the country in a week or so. Vecina's relatives in Mindanao have not yet given a statement as of posting time. Last year, the DFA said that the government had successfully appealed the death sentences of 24 Filipinos in various countries. These include Vecina and Marilou Ranario, another domestic helper who was sentenced to death also in Kuwait for killing her employer. Ranario's death sentence was commuted in December 2007, ahead of Vecina. In a report submitted to Malacañang, Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr., head of the DFA's Office of Migrant Workers' Affairs, said that 11 of these 24 OFWs had already been released and repatriated to the Philippines. He said the government is still appealing the death sentences of 38 other Filipinos abroad, including nine in Saudi Arabia, and 10 in Malaysia. Conejos said the cases span the period from January 2006 to June 2008, of which 30 are active death penalty cases currently in various stages of appeal, while the remaining eight were potential death penalty cases that the Philippine government is closely monitoring and assisting. Senate President Manuel Villar Jr, in a Senate Resolution filed last year said there are about 4,775 jailed OFWs, 500 of them are women. The DFA has refused to give an updated tally of jailed Filipinos overseas. - GMANews.TV