81 Filipino overseas workers facing death penalty cases — DFA

THE DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported on Wednesday that 81 Filipino workers abroad have pending cases that are punishable by death.

“The DFA continues to work hard and exhausts all diplomatic channels available to ensure that no death penalty sentence is executed against any of our kababayans (countrymen),” states a data sheet from the Assistance to Nationals program.

It cited accomplishments in recent years involving the acquittal of one Filipino in Saudi Arabia and another in the United Arab Emirates, who were both on death row for murder.

The DFA also said the death sentence on two Filipinos in Saudi Arabia were commuted in 2022 to nine years in prison.

The department also obtained 354 pardons from 2018 to 2022, with most cases filed due to drug trafficking, prostitution and theft.

It also reported that it has secured 135 acquittals through its legal assistance fund in 2022.

Of the total, 132 were from the Middle East, two from Asia, and one from Africa.

“The 2022 figures should be appreciated vis à vis the fact that, for the first half of 2022, most countries in Asia and the Middle East were still practicing strict COVID-19 control protocols,” the DFA said.

A total of 556 acquittals were secured from the Middle East, Asia, Africa and America between 2018 to 2022.

“Most of the acquittals involved retaliatory cases filed against household service workers in the Middle East for theft, absconding and breach of trust.”

The DFA said legal assistance given to overseas Filipinos start even “before the commencement of actual trials.”

“Such services would include representing the accused Filipino during custodial investigation, explaining to the Filipino the nuances of a particular case, making representations to the police investigators or the prosecutor for the dismissal of the complains, as well as reporting to the embassy or consulate developments of a particular case,” it added. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan