The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) assured two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on death row in Brunei of the government’s continuing support for them.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac said the government will also provide lawyers for the two OFWs who would file for pardon and financial assistance.
Cacdac said he was able to meet and visit OFWs Edgar Puzon and Cyrile Tagapan at the Maraburong Prison Facility 1 in Keriam, Tutong District, Brunei Darussalam.
“I conveyed the message of the President to our two kababayans of his support and continuing prayers for them,” Cacdac said adding “Both expressed their deepest thanks to the President.”
Puzon was convicted for the murder of a fellow OFW in 2005, while Tagapan has been serving his sentence since 2016 for the murder of a Bruneian national, and for arson and theft.
Puzon’s sentence, however, was commuted to life imprisonment.
Cacdac said that Puzon hopes to be granted early release as he turns 70 in January next year.
The DMW provided financial assistance to both Puzon and Tagapan from the kDepartment’s Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFW na Nangangailangan, or AKSYON.
The DMW also helped fund Puzon’s daughter’s compassionate visit in February this year. Cacdac assured Puzon that the department would support future compassionate visits as well.
The DMW and its attached agency, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), funded and will continue to shoulder all expenses for the compassionate visits of the two OFWs’ families and relatives.
He expressed his gratitude to the Brunei Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Acting Director of Brunei Prisons, the Prime Minister’s Office Deputy Permanent Secretary for Security and Welfare, and the Management of Maraburong Prison Facility for making his visit of the two OFW detainees possible despite short notice.
Cacdac also said the visit would not have been possible without the representations made by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique A. Manalo and Ambassador Marilyn Jocelyn R. Tirol-Ignacio with Brunei government officials.
