A FILIPINO seafarer in Saudi Arabia who killed a compatriot in 2008 has been spared from beheading after his victim's relatives forgave him for his crime.
Vice President Jejomar Binay said Wednesday Jonard Langamin will be released from Dammam Reformatory Jail as soon as he settles the blood money demanded by the heirs of the late Robertson Mendoza.
Binay, presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers concerns, asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to hasten the release of the settlement money, which was lowered to P2 million from P5 million after a reconciliation meeting with the Vice President at the Coconut Palace in Pasay City.
Once the needed amount is given to the murder victim's family, Judge Sheikh Ahmad Najmi Al Otaibe of the Dammam High Court will schedule a marathon hearing for the closure of the public right aspect of the case and eventually decide on Langamin’s immediate deportation.
The private right aspect of the case concerns the negotiations between the family of the victim and the accused while the public right aspect represents the criminal liability of the accused.
Langamin was actually expected to be released in March 2012 after Mendoza’s father signed a tanazul or affidavit of forgiveness.
But the court ruled that Mendoza’s mother, Rosemarie Santiago, should be the official representative of the family.
On November 3, Judge Sheikh Ahmad Najmi Al Otaibe accepted the tanazul presented by Santiago, thus Langamin will no longer face imminent death. (Sunnex)