FAMILIES and friends of three overseas Filipino workers Alicia Dalquez, Mary Jane Veloso and Rose Dacanay who were all sentenced to death appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to save them and seek clemency from leaders of countries where they committed their alleged crimes.
Dalquez was sentenced to death in UAE after she accidentally killed an Emirati police who attempted to rape her, highly placed government officials said.
The fate of Dalquez lies in the hands of her victim’s children, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi said the Court of Appeals in Al Ain Judicial Court had released a decision on the appeal to commute the death sentence on Dalquez. She appealed on the basis of honoring her right to self-defense.
Dalquez, from General Santos City, was imprisoned in December 2014, after being convicted of murdering her male employer, a police officer.
In related developments:
*The government has suspended the issuance of Overseas Employment Certificate for OFWs who were employed under the direct hiring scheme which was banned by the Department of Labor and Employment.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III ordered the suspension of issuance of OEC for OFWs following reports that some employees of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration have been extorting money from OFWs in exchange for the processing of exemptions from the direct hire ban.
Meanwhile, Delia Veloso, the mother of convicted drug trafficker Mary Jane, and the kin of other OFWs on death row trooped to Malacañang to seek the help of President Duterte.
Veloso was with Dalquez and Editha Dacanay, whose daughters were also on death row in the Middle East.
She said that April 29 marks the second year anniversary of Mary Jane’s temporary reprieve from execution in Indonesia.
The DFA said the government was doing everything to help Veloso, Dalqeuz and Dacanay and was facilitating legal assistance.
The families and friends of the three OFWs have asked for prayer for their their return alive to the Philippines.