|
Senate President Manuel Villar welcomes the
commutation of sentence of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) May Vecina
from death to life imprisonment by Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah on July 8.
He added, however, that the
government government must give equal attention to 35 other OFWs
languishing in jails abroad and awaiting execution in many
countries.
Villar noted that President
Gloria Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro personally appealed
to the Kuwaiti Emir for the commutation of sentence for Vecina, and
deserve due credit.
“Government efforts
should not cease until the best welfare of Vecina is attained,”
he, however, emphasized. “We look forward to the eventual freedom
of Vecina and her reunification with her family in the country,”
the Senate President said.
The Nacionalista Party
president earlier filed Senate Resolution No. 421, urging the Senate
to inquire into the status of OFWs in death row.
In his resolution, Villar
cited, “The latest statistics indicate that there are 35 OFWs
facing cases with capital punishment as penalty, including one in
Brunei, two in China, one in the United States, four in Kuwait, nine
in Saudi Arabia and 10 in Malaysia.”
Based on the Magna Carta for
Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos (RA 8042), the Labor Code of
the Philippines, treaties on international labor and human rights
conventions of which the Philippines is a signatory, and the 1987
Constitution guarantees on labor, the government must extend full
assistance to our distressed OFWs, the Senate President said.
We should avoid resorting
to last-ditch efforts which compromise the safety and security of
our OFWs, Villar underscored.
Tying up with Migrante
International, Villar has launched OFW Helpline (0917-4226800) which
aims to provide a channel by which distressed and endangered OFWs
and their families can report their need for assistance.
Villar has sponsored the
repatriation of a number of maltreated and underpaid Filipino
workers in the Middle East, including some minors. They met and made
their plea to the Senate president during his visit to embassies
abroad.
|
