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Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Pinay sentenced to death in Kuwait
MANILA -- The Kuwaiti High Court upheld a death sentence against overseas Filipino worker (OFW) May Vecina for killing her employer's son in January 2007.
Faisal al-Matar, lawyer of Vecina, said the ruling of the Cassation Court -- Kuwait's highest appeals point -- was final.
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The ruling did not have an explanation, but Vecina's lawyer said it routinely takes weeks for the tribunal to make the explanation available.
The 25-year-old Filipina domestic helper, identified in legal documents in Kuwait as May Membriri Vecina, was convicted of slitting the throat of seven-year-old Salem al-Otaibi with a kitchen knife in January 2007.
Vecina, who hails from North Cotabato, was also found guilty of attempted murder of the boy's 11-year-old brother Abdullah and 18-year-old sister Hajar, who both survived.
She was first sentenced to die in July 2007. The Kuwaiti High Court recently affirmed this verdict.
The OFW, who reportedly jumped from the second floor of her employer's home after committing the crime, allegedly reacted to violent insults hurled at her by her employer's family.
Al-Matar says that Vecina, a mother of two, had complained of mistreatment by her employer and that she has said she deplores her actions.
She had allegedly told the court that her employer's wife called her names in front of other people, just minutes before she undertook the deadly attack.
"She was temporarily insane," al-Matar said. "She insists she regrets the crime ... and she thought of killing herself," in remorse, he added.
Death sentences are carried out by hanging in Kuwait -- a small oil-rich emirate in the Gulf.
The lawyer said Vecina's life could be spared if the victim's father forgives her and gives up his legal rights in return for blood money.
Malacañang on Tuesday meanwhile assured the family of Vecina that the Arroyo government would exhaust all means to save her from hanging.
Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo said the administration is saddened by the Kuwaiti court's decision to sentence the 29-year-old Filipina domestic helper to die by hanging.
"Our government would not stop looking for some other ways to save May Vecina. We hope she would be saved," he said.
Vice President Noli de Castro, told reporters he is willing to go to Kuwait, if President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo approves, to find ways of saving the condemned housemaid.
Another Filipina domestic helper, Marilou Ranario, 33, also faces death by hanging in Kuwait after being convicted of murdering her employer in 2005.
Last December, President Arroyo made a special trip to Kuwait to plead with the emir for the life of Ranario.
At the time, the President's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said the Kuwaiti ruler, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, promised to reduce the penalty to life in prison, and further cut it if the victim's family sign a forgiveness note.
But there has been no announcement to that effect by Kuwaiti authorities.
More than 500,000 domestic helpers from Asian countries work in Kuwait, which has a population of over three million. Complaints of nonpayment of salaries and physical abuse are common among them. (AP/With JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (April 2, 2008 issue)
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