Hopes high for pardon of RP maid

Hopes high for pardon of RP maid

MANILA (AFP): The Philippine ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) expressed confidence yesterday that a Filipina maid could be pardoned after the family of the man she killed dropped its demand that she be executed.

Ambassador Roy Seneres in an interview over radio station DZXL here said if a request for a pardon were made for 16-year old Sarah Balabagan, he had "high hopes that our request will be granted."

The maid's appeal resumes Oct. 30, and her lawyers hope to prove to the court that she was a minor when she killed her employer Mohammad Abdullah al-Baloushi after he attempted to rape her in 1994.

Seneres clarified that while the death penalty had been lifted, Balabagan still faced the possibility of being jailed and paying 150,000 dirhams (US$41,000) in compensation to the family of Baloushi if an Al-Ain court upheld its guilty verdict.

If this happened, the Philippines would then seek a pardon from UAE President Sheikh Zayed ibn Sultan al-Nahayan, he said.

"If we ask for pardon after Sarah's sentencing, I don't think we will have a hard time," Seneres said, adding that this was because of the kindness shown by the UAE president when he prevailed upon the Baloushis to withdraw their demand for the death penalty.

The Baloushi family, through their 24-year-old son Faraj, dropped their demand Saturday, defusing probable unrest in the Philippines since she would have been the second Filipina to be executed abroad this year.

The Philippines is still smarting from the hanging in March of Flor Contemplacion who was convicted of two murders in Singapore. There was also the possibility of an acquittal for Balabagan, Seneres said.

"The problem here is that even if the accused is acquitted, there is no double jeopardy here so the other party has the right to file an appeal. So we can't say that she will be released right away," he said.

Seneres said that if Balabagan is granted clemency, the payment of the blood money would also be covered by the UAE President.

While the Al-Ain court has yet to issue its decision, "there is willingness on the part of the Baloushi family to accept the blood money," Seneres said.

Faraj Baloushi said the money would be used to build a mosque or be donated to charity.

Meanwhile, local dailies reported that Philippines plastics manufacturing magnate, William Gatchalian, sent a check for 1.06 million pesos ($41,000) to President Fidel Ramos' sister Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani to cover the amount of blood money Balabagan may have to pay to the Baloushis.