Press Release
July 1, 2008

Villar files resolution urging Senate labor committee to inquire into status
of OFWs in death row

Senate President Manny Villar introduced Senate Resolution 421 urging the Senate committee on labor to inquire into the status of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in death row.

Villar said, "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 guarantees of the 1987 Constitution on labor, the government must extend full assistance to our distressed OFWs, the Senate President stressed.

The said assistance includes legal, economic, social and other pertinent help, he said.

In his resolution, Villar cited a number of OFW cases which include those of:

  • Idan Tejano and Marjana Sakilan: Their separate cases are being heard in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with the public aspect tried in the Jeddah Grand Court and the private aspect on suspended sentence as promulgated by the Supreme Judicial Cases. They are in similar legal stages.

  • May Vecina: She is currently detained in Kuwait and is being litigated.

  • Rodelio Lanuza: The public aspect of his case is being tried and pending before the Dammam Grand Court.

  • Edison Gonzales, Eduardo Arcilla, and Rolando Gonzales: They were all part of the en masse arrest of 72 Filipino workers in April 2006. Their cases are being reviewed by the appellate court, the Tameez Court in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  • Nelson Diana: He is currently detained, and his case is being heard by the Malaysian High Court.

Villar said, "An immediate inquiry into the status of our OFWs in death row, including assistance provided and the short and long-term policies of the country, must be made in order to most suitably and adequately address the issue."

Over eight million Filipinos currently work and live in at least 197 countries and territories, making the Philippines the top labor sending country in the world following China and India in 2005.

News Latest News Feed