Filipina saved from UAE death row to come home soon

FILE: Filipino worker Jennifer Dalquez (Photo: Jenny Dalquez/Facebook)

MANILA — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday reported that detained overseas Filipino worker Jennifer Dalquez, who was spared from death row in the United Arab Emirates last year, will be released from prison Thursday.

Dalquez, who was sentenced to death for allegedly killing her employer on December 7, 2014, was acquitted in 2017.

According to Ambassador to Abu Dhabi Hjayceelyn Quintana, the UAE authorities are coordinating with the Philippine Embassy for Dalquez’s flight home on Thursday evening.

In a statement sent through DFA Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato, the agency welcomed the news.

Dalquez, a native of General Santos, was sentenced to death in 2015. She was later acquitted after the Philippine embassy appealed her case.

Through her counsel, Dalquez argued that she was defending herself from an attempted rape when the incident occurred in 2014.

The Court of First Instance of Al Ain earlier meted the death sentence on Dalquez on May 20, 2015 after which her case was appealed to the Court of Appeals.

Dalquez was declared innocent by the UAE appellate court without diyyah or payment of blood money.