Kin of jailed Filipino worker in Saudi ask Arroyo’s help

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines -- The family of an overseas Filipino worker facing execution in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has appealed for help from Malacañang, a week after another Filipino in the oil-rich kingdom was beheaded by sword.

Merly Esteva, wife of Joven Esteva and mother to four children, told reporters here that only President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can save the life of her husband.

Merly said her husband left on April last year for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he was last employed as a family driver.

However, she said, Joven called her up just recently and told her he wanted to go home, adding he even asked for money to buy a plane ticket for his trip back home.

Merly claimed she sent the money but had not heard from him since.

The last she heard of her husband was that he was already in jail for killing his employer and stabbing the two children of his employer. The kids survived.

Merly said she could hardly believed it happened.

The family of Esteva first asked the help of Sultan Kudarat governor Pax Mangudadatu.

Mangudadatu, in turn, appealed to Arroyo to take action this early.

The governor said that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Malacañang should investigate the incident to know the circumstances behind the killing.

On June 13, Reynaldo Cortez, 41, was beheaded by sword in a Riyadh jail for the murder of a Pakistani taxi driver who reportedly tried to rape him in 2001.

The DFA said 33 overseas Filipinos are on the death row in the Middle East countries. - Aquiles Zonio, PDI Mindanao Bureau, June 22, 2007