Kuwait supreme court affirms death sentence on Ranario

(Update 4, 9:09 p.m.) Kuwait’s Court of Cassation affirmed on Tuesday the death sentence on Marilou Ranario, the 35-year-old Filipino domestic helper convicted for the murder of her lady employer in 2005, Vice President Manuel “Noli de Castro" said. Interviewed on dzBB radio, De Castro, also presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers, said Philippine Ambassador Ricardo Endaya relayed to him the Kuwait high court’s ruling on the appeal of Ranario. De Castro said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has drafted a letter for the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad, seeking clemency for Ranario. "Ako Mel, habang buhay si Marilou Ranario ay umaasa pa rin ako na makagagawa pa rin tayo ng paraan," said De Castro in an interview with Mel Tiangco, anchor of GMA News24 Oras. He said four of the five immediate relatives of Ranario's lady employer had already accepted the tanazul or affidavit of forgiveness. Only the Kuwaiti employer's estranged husband refused to sign the affidavit, he said. Responding to criticisms that the Arroyo government did not do enough to save Ranario, the Vice President said: “Hindi ganoon kadali ang paghawak sa kaso. Tayo ay umasa lamang sa sistema ng hustisya sa Kuwait. Hindi magandang sabihin na nagpapabaya ang gobyerno. Mula sa dalawng abogado ay ginawang lima ang abogado ni Marilou." (It is not that easy to handle this case. We are just adhering to the justice system in Kuwait. It is not right to say that the government was negligent. From two lawyers, Ranario's lawyers were increased to five.) Ranario had admitted stabbing her Arab employer to death for allegedly insulting her. There is still hope There is no exact date yet for Ranario’s execution, but De Castro said it could take place in two to three months. “But there is still hope. The government is not giving up. It’s not fair to say that the government was remiss in its duty to save the life of Marilou. We got four Tanazuls which means that Marilou has been forgiven by the family. It will then be submitted to the Emir. Then he will decide if Marilou will be given a life sentence or be pardoned," De Castro said. He said the Philippine government needed one more tanazul from the victim’s brother, who remains reluctant to forgive Ranario. “The mother, two brothers and a sister issued tanazuls. We needed one more. But what’s important is we got the mother," the Vice President said. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said he was “deeply saddened" by the Kuwait court’s decision, but assured that the government will appeal before the Kuwait s Emir to grant clemency to Ranario, citing humanitarian reasons. “Our prayers go out with her and her family. I have high hopes that the emir and other officials will find it in their heart to give Marilou her life. We will do everything," Romulo said. Appeal to touch Emir's heart Romulo said President Arroyo has instructed De Castro to immediately proceed to Kuwait to meet with the Emir and personally handover the Chief Executive’s letter seeking clemency for Ranario. "The President has spoken with the Emir of Kuwait by phone and written to him to request clemency for Marilou," Romulo said in a press statement. De Castro said the embassy is already making the necessary arrangements for his meeting with the Emir. He also said that Manila has sought the assistance of the European Union, the Vatican and Bahrain to intercede on behalf of the Philippine government. Romulo said the government hopes “to touch the heart of the Emir" through the intercession of the foreign governments. “It’s not too late. We will appeal for clemency," the foreign secretary said. Better protection for OFWs Senate President Manuel Villar Jr said Ranario's fate "should serve as a lesson to all of us in government as we revisit and reformulate legislation that will provide better protection for our modern heroes, the Filipinos working abroad." "May this unfortunate incident involving a Filipino worker in a foreign land not divide us as a nation but rather unite us in praying for the release and eventual repatriation of Marilou as we also extend our sympathies to her family during this trying time," he said. Senator Jinggoy Estrada, chairman Senate labor committee, said the government should exert more efforts to seek pardon for Ranario. “Ang masakit dito, puri tayo ng puri sa ating mga OFWs, pero wala naman tayong ginagawa para sa kanila. (What is painful here is that we have been praising our OFWs but we are not doing anything for them.) They don't get anything in return," he said. Indignation rally Members of the militant group Migrante International holding a "Bantay Hatol" vigil in front of the offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City staged a noise barrage in protest over the Kuwait court's ruling. “Arroyo and her administration is to blame. Sila ang may kasalanan dito dahil hindi nila sinuportahan ang kaso mula umpisa hanggang huli, malinaw na criminal neglect. Sisingilin namin siya (Gloria)," said Maita Santiago, secretary general of Migrante. (The government is at fault here. It did not support the case from start to the end. It is a clear criminal neglect. We will collect from her.) Ranario family's reaction Ranario's common-law husband, Lolito Dalubatan, was at a loss for words. He said he did not know how to break the news to their two children. “Hindi ko kayang ipaalam sa kanila (anak) ang nangyari (sa ina). Malaking pagsisi ko (pinayagang mag-abroad ang asawa) pero ganon pa man napagdesisyunan namin na gawa sa kahirapan ay wala na kaming magagawa," he said. (I cannot break the news to them, what happened to their mother. I regret having allowed her to go abroad, but we have decided on it out of poverty.) Rosario, Marilou's father, said he wanted to talk to President Arroyo and ask her to do everything she could to save her daughter. "Hindi nila talaga iniligtas ang buhay (ni Marilou). Base sa kanilang inireport sa akin, hindi si Marilou ang may kasalanan. Ang gumawa nito ay Kuwait at ibinintang kay Marilou," the old Ranario said. (They did not save the life of Marilou. Based on their reports to me, it was not Marilou's fault. The Kuwaitis did it and blamed it on Marilou.) "Ang plano ko ngayon, Madam President kung maaari gusto kitang makausap. Kung maaari para gawan mo talaga ng paraan, walang sinumang makakaligtas sa buhay ni Marilou kundi sa iyo nakasalalay," Marilou's father said. (My plan right now, I want to talk to the President. If you can find a way, no one else can save Marilou but you.) GMA News report Lei Alviz said Ranario's family have been scheduled to meet with President Arroyo in Cebu City on Wednesday. The family was taken to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration offices in Pasay City early evening Tuesday. Ranario, a mother of two who left a teaching job in the Philippines in 2003 to work as a domestic helper in Kuwait, was charged for the murder of her Kuwaiti employer Najat Mahmoud Faraj Mobarak on January 11, 2005. Kuwait’s Court of First Instance sentenced her to die by hanging eight months later. The Court of Appeals upheld the sentence last February. De Castro said on Monday that there was “70 percent chance" that Ranario’s sentence would be commuted to life sentence. But in a press conference late Tuesday afternoon, he said the Kuwait Cassation court’s decision was “hindi maganda." Kuwait's 11-member Court of Cassation heard oral arguments on Ranario’s appeal on Nov. 13. Endaya said two highly respected Kuwaiti defense lawyers --Ahmad Qurban and Abdel Majid Khuraibet -- argued Ranario's case at the instance of the Philippine government. Immediately after the court's ruling came out, militant groups Migrante International and Bayan quickly called for an indignation rally at Welcome Rotunda, boundary between Quezon City and Manila, at 12 noon Wednesday to press the Arroyo government to exert all possible efforts in appealing to the Kuwait amir to save Ranario from death by hanging.- GMANews.TV, with reports from Fidel Jimenez