Gov’t to speak with one voice on doomed Filipina

MANILA, Philippines -- To avoid jeopardizing ongoing negotiations to obtain clemency for condemned overseas worker May Vecina, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday directed that all announcements concerning the legal and diplomatic efforts with the Emir of Kuwait should be made only by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The President said the government was doing everything it could to save Vecina, who was sentenced to death by hanging for killing her Kuwaiti employer’s seven-year-old son in January and attempting to kill the latter’s two siblings.

The Kuwaiti supreme court upheld last Tuesday Vecina’s death sentence and the Philippine government’s efforts to save her life are now focused on pleading with the Emir, Sheikh Saabash al-Ahama al-Sabah, for the death sentence to be commuted to life.

Ms Arroyo said Esteban Conejos, the foreign undersecretary for migrant affairs, would be making all the announcements on the case.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, meanwhile, told reporters that President Arroyo might send Vice President Noli de Castro to personally appeal Vecina’s case with the Kuwaiti Emir.

Gonzalez reiterated his suggestion for De Castro to explore the possibility of asking OFWs in the Middle East to contribute to the “blood money” which would be paid to the family of Vecina’s employer.

Gonzalez also said it might be necessary for OFWs to be given instruction in the culture of their host countries.

“We should teach Filipinos who go there [the Middle East] what to expect, otherwise they will have culture shock,” he said.

The Migrante OFW group’s Middle East chapter on Thursday began circulating in overseas Filipino communities a letter to the Emir of Kuwait imploring him to spare the life of Vecina. - Michael Lim Ubac, Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 04, 2008