Family of executed Filipina to get P120,000, scholarship — DOLE

Jakatia Pawa

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will give P120,000 in assistance and other aid to the family of Jakatia Pawa, the Filipina executed on Wednesday in Kuwait.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has instructed the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to expedite the welfare assistance, including psychosocial counseling for Pawa’s family.

“We join Jakatia’s family in grief which was made more painful with the abrupt execution of Jakatia,” said Bello in a statement.

The DOLE secretary was in Rome for the third round of formal peace talks with the National Democratic Front.

Pawa, 32, was executed for allegedly killing her employer’s 22-year-old daughter in May 2007.

Her hanging caught the public by surprise, although the Department of Foreign Affairs said Malacañang was aware of her case and that all efforts were made to save her life.

The DOLE said Pawa’s kin would be given P120,000 in financial assistance, which includes P20,000 for burial expenses. Jakatia’s two children will also receive college scholarships.

Bello maintained that the government exhausted all diplomatic and legal efforts to save the life of the doomed overseas Filipina worker.

“The government provided her with all necessary assistance and ensured that her legal rights were observed throughout the whole process,” Bello said.

OWWA administrator Hans Leo Cacdac also went to Zamboanga del Norte on Thursday to condole with Pawa’s family and determine what other assistance could be extended to them.

Cacdac said the government hired two law firms to represent Jakatia.

The government also asked help from King Felipe VI of Spain, a friend of the Emir of Kuwait, to convince him to commute the sentence for humanitarian reasons.

Cacdac added that the government also hired a lawyer to negotiate the payment of blood money to the victims’ family in exchange for an affidavit of forgiveness.

Meanwhile, the Blas F. Ople Policy Center urged the public to remember Pawa “not as a convicted felon, but as a caring mother and a hardworking, innocent OFW.”

Susan Ople, head of the policy center, noted that the DNA found on the murder weapon was not Pawa’s and that the OFW had no motive to attack her employer’s daughter.

She added that Pawa’s family did not have the chance to see her one last time.

“There appears to be room for improvement on how the DFA and DoLE can coordinate better to make sure that an OFW on death row and his or her family are equally cared for especially when an execution may be imminent,” she said. CBB/rga