Senator Cynthia Villar has urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to step up its efforts to provide legal assistance to overseas Filipino worker Jennifer Dalquez who is on death row in the United Arab Emirates.
DFA records showed Dalquez has been sentenced to death for killing her employer on Dec. 7, 2014.
The OFW’s mother said her daughter was arrested after stabbing her employer who was attempting to rape her.
DFA sources said the UAE’s Court of First Instance will issue a decision on Dalquez’s case on Feb. 27.
The decision would either affirm or overturn the death sentence issued by a lower court. An affirmation of the sentence would lead to the transmittal of the case to UAE’s highest court.
“We cannot and should not allow the execution of yet another innocent OFW,” Villar said, referring to the recent execution of domestic worker Jatakia Pawa in Kuwait.
Prior to her execution, the 44-year-old Pawa maintained that she was innocent of the crime, saying she had no motive to kill her employer’s daughter and that her fingerprints did not match the DNA found on the murder weapon.
Pawa was executed on Jan. 25, catching the DFA and the Department of Labor and Employment by surprise.
According to the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, the host government only gave them a notice of 18 hours prior to the execution.
“Let us not repeat the same mistake of being caught by surprise, and failing to provide the family with timely and relevant information as seen in the case of Jatakia Pawa,” the senator said.
“The DFA must leave no stone unturned in providing quality legal assistance to Jennifer Dalquez,” Villar added.
