Family of sentenced Filipina maid look for postponement
Family of sentenced Filipina maid look for postponement
SINGAPORE (Reuter): The family of a Filipina maid expected to
be hanged on Friday hopes Singapore will delay the execution, the
family's lawyer said yesterday.
Flor Contemplacion, 42, was sentenced to hang for the 1991
murder of a Filipina maid and a three-year-old son of her
employers.
The Contemplacion family's lawyer, Romeo Capulong, said he
arrived here on Monday to present new evidence claiming
Contemplacion is innocent.
"We are feverishly working on the papers and making follow-
ups" on legal and diplomatic levels, Capulong told Reuters.
Contemplacion's four children, including twin 15-year-old
sons, visited her in prison on Tuesday, said the lawyer.
"Naturally they are very sad, but the news I gave them last
night about the strong support they are getting from our people
back home -- the media, the government and even the international
community -- has boosted their confidence that their mother will
be saved."
The news of Contemplacion's expected hanging sparked an appeal
to Singapore from Philippines President Fidel Ramos, as well as
protests in Manila and threats of retaliation by communist rebels
in the Philippines.
The Singapore government has not so far publicly responded to
the protests.
"I came here to work for the stay of execution, to re-open the
case and conduct a new trial on the basis of newly discovered
evidence which proves that Flor Contemplacion was not the person
who committed the two murders," said Capulong.
The lawyer said he has sworn testimony of Contemplacion's
innocence from three individuals in the Philippines, which he
presented to the office of Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong on
Monday. There are two more people in the Philippines whose
testimony is now being taken, Capulong said.
In addition, he said: "This is a case where the husband of the
convict and the husband of the deceased have jointly petitioned
the government to stay the execution and re-open the case,
because both are seeking justice for their respective wives."
Two senior Manila officials are said to be making personal
appeals this week. Officials at the Philippine Embassy here could
not be reached for comment.
Stay
"The immediate goal is an indefinite stay of execution," said
Capulong. "I'm still very optimistic."
"We're very confident that we will be able to get a stay," he
said.
In Hong Kong, more than 30 Filipino workers petitioned the
Philippine and Singapore consulates in Hong Kong yesterday urging
Singapore not to hang a Filipina convicted of murder.
They demanded a retrial for Contemplacion and accused Manila
of not doing enough to help.
Carrying banners stating, "Flor is not an isolated case" the
protesters handed in petitions signed by more than 4,000 people
in Hong Kong.