PRRD leads send-off rites for kin of detained OFW in Bahrain

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte gives a message after posthumously awarding the Order of Lapu-Lapu Rank of Kalasag to the killed soldiers during a ceremony at the Malacañan Palace on September 17, 2019. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA — President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Thursday led the send-off ceremony for the family of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) detained in Bahrain, Malacañang said on Friday.

In a press statement, the Palace said the President met with the family of Roderick Aguinaldo, who has been detained in Bahrain for the past three years after killing a Pakistani national, at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City before flying off to Leyte for an official engagement.

The Bahraini government allowed Aguinaldo’s family to have a compassionate visit

“Aguinaldo’s parents, wife, and two daughters will fly to Bahrain on Saturday after the Bahraini government allowed them to conduct the visit,” Malacañang said.

The Palace, however, did not elaborate on the impending visit.

Present during the send-off rites were Special Envoy to the Gulf Cooperation Council Amable Aguiluz V, Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, Chief of the Presidential Protocol Robert Borje, and Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola.

On Wednesday, Go and Aguiluz extended financial assistance to Aguinaldo’s family, Malacañang said.

It also noted that the detained OFW’s three children also received scholarships from Aguiluz.

In 2018, Aguinaldo’s family sought the help of Go, then Special Assistant to the President.

Aguinaldo’s call for help prompted the President to ask Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to commute Aguinaldo’s sentence, the Palace said.

Duterte then received assurance from the Bahraini government not to carry out capital punishment, it added.