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.