RP labor minister quits

RP labor minister quits

MANILA (Reuter): President Fidel Ramos yesterday accepted the resignation of Labor Minister Nieves Confesor, the second senior official to quit in the fallout over the hanging of a Filipina maid in Singapore in March.

"It is with deep regret that I accept your offer of resignation," Ramos said in a letter to Confesor he read in front of reporters.

Confesor's resignation followed that of Foreign Secretary Roberto Romulo, who quit in April amid the furor in Manila over the hanging of Flor Contemplacion in Singapore's Changi prison for double murder.

Both officials were blamed for not doing enough to save Contemplacion.

Labor undersecretary Jose Brillantes was named to replace Confesor until a permanent minister is appointed to the post.

Contemplacion, whom many Filipinos consider innocent of the crime for which she was sent to the gallows, has been hailed as a martyr by many in the Philippines.

The 42-year-old maid was found guilty of the 1991 murder of fellow Filipina maid Delia Maga and a three-year-old Singaporean boy.