DMW extends help to kin of Filipino executed in Saudi Arabia

By Marita Moaje, Philippine News Agency

At a Palace briefing on Thursday, DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac offered condolences to the family of the OFW, who he said, was immediately visited by a team from the agency and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). (File Photo: Department of Migrant Workers/Facebook)

MANILA – The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has assured government assistance to the family of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) recently executed in Saudi Arabia.

At a Palace briefing on Thursday, DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac offered condolences to the family of the OFW, who he said, was immediately visited by a team from the agency and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

“There are school-aged children left behind, so tutulungan natin iyong mga bata, first and foremost, kasi iyon naman ang dahilan kung bakit nag-OFW ang isang tao, para sa mga anak (we will help those children, first and foremost, because that is the reason why someone becomes an OFW, for the children),” Cacdac said.

The DFA on Tuesday confirmed that an OFW was executed in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 5, for the murder of a Saudi national.

The Philippines was not given an advance notice about the execution as part of the rules.

The national was sentenced to qisas or retribution for the killing of a Saudi national stemming from a financial dispute.

Cacdac also raised the possibility of bringing the body of the executed OFW back home.

But a GMA report quoting Riyadh Charges D’Affaires Rommel Romato said the remains of the Filipino cannot be repatriated to the Philippines as provided by the Shari’ah Law.