GMA to DFA: Exhaust all means to save life of Pinay in Kuwait

President Arroyo ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday to exhaust all possible means to save the life of a 33-year-old Filipina domestic helper who was sentenced to death by hanging by a Kuwaiti court.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the DFA is expected to act swiftly following complaints from Marilou Ranario’s family that the department was too slow in assisting them and had failed to inform them of the death sentence on time.

"The President has instructed the Foreign Affairs department to look into the plight of Miss Marilou Ranario, and to exhaust all diplomatic and legal means to save her life," Bunye said.

"We understand the pressure and pain that her family is experiencing right now and we assure them that the government will do everything it can to order to help her."

Ranario, the first Filipina to be meted the death sentence in the Middle East, allegedly stabbed her employer with a kitchen knife in January last year.

Ranario, who hails from Tubod, Surigao del Sur, was a teacher in the Philippines before she left for Kuwait to work as a domestic helper for better pay.

Her father said he was informed by the DFA of the death sentence only this month even though it was handed down on Sept. 28 last year.

The case is being appealed before an appellate court by private Kuwaiti lawyers of a non-governmental organization.

Philippine embassy chargé d’affaires Ricardo Endaya had reported to the DFA that the embassy was exhausting all legal remedies provided under the Kuwaiti justice system.

The family of the Kuwaiti national allegedly killed by Ranario has refused to accept blood money in exchange for forgiveness and spare Ranario from execution, according to a senior DFA official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The STAR that the Kuwaiti’s wife and relatives are still not open to signing an affidavit of willingness to accept payment and grant forgiveness. — With Pia Lee-Brago