ISANG Pinoy sa Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ang binitay dahil sa pagpatay sa isang Saudi national, ayon sa Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Sinabi ni DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega na ginawa na ng ahensiya ang lahat para maisalba ang Pinoy, kabilang ang pagpapadala ng presidential letter of appeal, subalit bigo ito.
“No official confirmation from Saudi authorities yet but yes, our Embassy in Riyadh reports that there was an execution. It was for murder of a Saudi national over money,” sabi ni De Vega.
“We did all we could: court appeal, presidential letter of appeal, trying to get the victim’s family to accept blood money. In the end, our efforts were not successful as the victim’s family wanted the death penalty instead of accepting blood money,” dagdag pa niya.
Ayon kay De Vega, ayaw ng pamilya ng binitay na Pinoy ng publicity hinggil sa kaso.
“Out of deference to their wishes, and out of respect to their privacy, we will withhold details on the case. We appeal to the media and the public to understand and heed the wishes of the family,” aniya.
Samantala, tiniyak ni Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac na magkakaloob ng tulong ang pamahalaan sa pamilya ng binitay na Pinoy.
”The family is requesting privacy. Rest assured we’re assisting them, the family and this is a case na medyo matagal na rin, nasa OWWA pa ko noon [this case had been for here for awhile, back when I was still with OWWA],” ani Cacdac
Aniya, mahigpit na nakikipag-ugnayan ang DMW sa DFA para sa agad na repatriation ng mga labi ng Pinoy.
Hanggang March 2023, sinabi ng DFA na may 83 Pinoy sa ibang bansa ang nasa death row dahil sa iba’t ibang kaso.
Sa nasabing bilang, 56 ang nasa Malaysia habang ang iba ay nasa United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, USA, Japan at Brunei. Karamihan sa death row cases ay may kinalaman sa illegal drugs at theft.
