NUMBER OF OFWS IN DEATH
ROW INACCURATE;
NO EXECUTIONS OF PINOYS
HELD SINCE 2000
Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Franklin M. Ebdalin today said that recent reports stating that forty-four (44) overseas Filipino workers are scheduled to be beheaded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are inaccurate.
“According to records tallied
by case officers of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Worker’s
Affairs (DFA-OUMWA), at present, there are only fourteen (14) Filipinos
facing capital punishment in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, seven (7) in
Riyadh and seven (7) in Jeddah. More importantly, since January of 2000,
no execution of convicted overseas Filipino workers has taken place,” the
Acting Secretary said.
Acting Secretary Ebdalin also dismissed claims by some NGOs that the DFA is “neglecting its duties” to assist Filipinos facing capital punishment in the Middle-East.
“The DFA has always had a
consistent policy of providing assistance to our nationals abroad regardless
of their financial, social or political status,” he said. “It is contrary
to our mandate to turn our backs on Filipinos in
distress abroad.”
The Acting Secretary pointed out the basic steps the Department takes in handling consular cases involving crime.
“Once an OFW is reported to have been involved in a crime, the Department instructs the concerned Embassy or Consulate to provide the necessary consular and legal assistance to the OFW from the investigation, appeal and final stages of the case.”
“While the case is in progress, the Embassy or Consulate concerned adopts and recommends actions for amicable settlement, i.e., to approach the family of the victim for settlement of the case. If the family refuses to settle, the court will impose the maximum penalty in accordance with Sharia'h law. However, in the latter case, the Embassy or Consulate would then seek clemency or pardon for the concerned OFW.”
“The DFA extends all possible
assistance within its resources to the families and exhausts all legal
remedies, legal and consular, during the pendency of the case regardless
of how long the case lasts,” Acting Secretary Ebdalin concluded. - END