Pardoned OFW now living a normal life in NCotabato

MATALAM, North Cotabato - May Vecina, the former overseas Filipino domestic helper convicted and pardoned for murdering the son of her employer in Kuwait in 2007, is now living a normal life with husband Leo and two children, Quennie Jane and King James. Vecina is now managing a small rice outlet that serves as the family’s source of income to sustain their daily needs, including the schooling of her two children. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) regional office 12, the North Cotabato provincial government, and the local government unit of Matalam had given Vicena some P100,000 to help her start her own business. “(The business) really helps me cope with my horrendous experience inside the prison cell in Kuwait," she said. Vecina was sentenced to death by a Kuwaiti court that found her guilty of killing her employer's seven-year-old son in 2007. She was later granted full pardon by the Emir of Kuwait Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah due to the appeal of the Philippine government. She was reunited with her family here June 30 last year She admitted committing the crime but claimed temporary insanity due to maltreatment inflicted on her by her employer while working abroad. “God is really good to me and my family. I did not believe that I will be seeing my family and relatives again after the Kuwaiti court imposed death penalty on me," Vecina said. Vecina is also asking the government to look at the plight of other abused overseas Filipino workers across the globe. “I appeal to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to also help those in death rows in Kuwait and in other parts of the World." She named other Filipinos languishing in the Kuwaiti jail, such as Marilou Ranario, Maria Fe Crusado, Minerva Tayag, Jakatia Pawa, and Bienvenido Espino Jr. The death sentences for Ranario, Crusado and Tayag had already been commuted to life imprisonment, while those for Pawa and Espino remain. “May they also be reunited with their own families the soonest possible time," Vecina prayed. - KBK, GMANews.TV