Aquino help sought for OFW on Saudi death row

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The wife of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) from this landlocked province appealed to President Benigno Aquino III to help her husband who was convicted of murder by a Shariah court in Saudi Arabia. Edgardo Genetiano, 50, of Bascaran village in Solano town, is now languishing on death row in a Saudi prison in connection with the killing of a fellow worker there three years ago. He, along with two other OFWs, were convicted early this month. Genetiano’s wife, Evelyn, 49, decided to seek presidential assistance because she is getting hopeless due to what she said was lack of attention from concerned Philippine agencies. “Sir President Noynoy, have mercy on my husband, I don’t believe that he has something to do with the killing. I beg you to do all what’s in your power to save my husband from death," she said in an interview with GMANews.TV. Mrs. Genetiano also sought the help of former Vice President Noli de Castro and Senator Manuel “Manny" Villar Jr., who championed OFW welfare during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency. On June 5, a Saudi court sentenced Mr. Genetiano to death, along with Victorino Gaspar of Roxas, Isabela, and Jun Mequiabas from southern Philippines, for killing of Rey Dimaculangan of Cabuyao, Laguna, in April 2007. The three are scheduled to be hanged on December. Mr. Genetiano has been working as an electrician since 2000 in the oil-rich country. “We were at the airport, we were waiting for his arrival on April 21 that year but he never alighted from the plane. I only learned of what happened to him after a few days when one of his co-workers called up and told me that he got into a certain trouble," Mrs. Genetiano recalled. She maintained that her husband, whom she described as a doting father to their children and a respected citizen in their community, has nothing to do with the crime. “He denied the accusations. He told me he is not capable of doing such a thing besides why would he compromise himself when he was already going home?" she added. Mrs. Genetiano said their children, a 19-year-old college freshman and a Grade 6 pupil, had to stop their schooling due to financial difficulties brought by the tragedy. On Tuesday, she sought an audience with Gov. Luisa Cuaresma for some financial assistance to personally follow up her husband’s case with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), hoping that her meeting with higher authorities would save her husband. - KBK, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV