THE APPEALS Court of Kuwait has upheld the 16-year prison sentence meted out on a 17-year-old local citizen convicted of killing a Filipina domestic worker, whose charred remains were found in the desert in January last year.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said the appeals court had affirmed the 15-year jail sentence it imposed on the accused for the murder of 35-year-old Jullebee Ranara in September, 2023. He was also ordered imprisoned for one year for driving without a license.

“I have issued instructions to our Migrant Workers Office in Kuwait (MWO-Kuwait) to work with our retained legal counsel in filing a civil action for damages against the father of the convicted perpetrator,” DMW Office-in-Charge Hans Leo J. Cacdac said, noting that the killer is a son of Ms. Ranara’s employer.

“We have informed the Ranara family of the Court’s ruling and have assured them of our continued utmost support and assistance, as directed by the President,” he added.

There are about 268,000 Filipinos in Kuwait, 195,000 of whom are working as domestic workers, according to DMW records.

It was Ranara’s case that prompted the DMW, then led by the late former secretary Maria Susana “Toots” V. Ople, to revisit the labor agreement between the two countries. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

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