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Govt hopes maid will be spared
28/11/2007 13:54 - (SA)
Manila - The Philippine government said on Wednesday it was hopeful a Filipina maid sentenced to death in Kuwait for murdering her employer would be spared after "blood money" was paid to the relatives of her victim.
Vice-President Noli de Castro, who is leading a special mission to seek executive clemency for Marilou Ranario, said he had met with the victim's family and they had granted forgiveness.
"We are not losing any hope because we have already paid blood money to the mother and the victim's four siblings," de Castro told local television.
He said according to Arab custom, a suspect can be spared if the aggrieved family agreed to receive payment of "blood money" and granted forgiveness.
"In this case, the family has already forgiven her," he said.
De Castro said he would personally deliver a letter from Philippine leader Gloria Arroyo to Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah requesting that Ranario be given a full pardon and allowed to return home.
Ranario in 2005 was sentenced to death by hanging for killing her 46-year-old female employer whom she said had abused her. The verdict was affirmed by Kuwait's Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Her case has drawn widespread attention in the Philippines, whose economy relies heavily on remittances from nearly eight million Filipino overseas workers.
Of the total, about 73 000 Filipinos work in the Gulf state. About 60 000 of them are women employed mainly as maids and earning an average of less than $200s a month, according to labour groups.
- AFP
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