Malacañang condoles with kin of executed Filipino maid

Malacañang on Thursday expressed its sympathies to the family of the Filipino maid, who was executed in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, after being found guilty of murder.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo assured the public that the government did everything it could to save the 39-year-old Filipino, who was sentenced to death by the Saudi Supreme Judicial Council.

“I would like to express our condolences to the bereaved family of the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who has been executed,” Panelo said at a press briefing.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier announced the death of the Filipino, who was executed on Tuesday.

The DFA refused to disclose the maid’s identity and other information on the request of her family.

“The department extends its deep condolences to the family of the Filipino household service worker,” the DFA said in a statement.

No blood money

“The department regrets that it was not able to save the life of the Filipino after the Saudi Supreme Judicial Council classified her case as one in which blood money does not apply under Sharia law,” it said, referring to a system where a murder suspect can make reparation to the family of the victim.

Ambassador Adnan Alonto said the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh provided the Filipino with a lawyer “in all stages of her trial,” sent representatives to visit her and provided her family in the Philippines with regular updates.

When President Duterte visited Saudi Arabia in 2017, the embassy said 10 Filipinos—three of them women—were on death row in the kingdom. —REPORTS FROM JULIE M. AURELIO AND DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN