The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that a Filipino national was executed in Saudi Arabia on October 5 for the murder of a Saudi national.
The Filipino national was sentenced to qisas, or retribution, for the killing, which reportedly emanated from a financial dispute with a business partner.
President Ferdinand Marcos described the execution as “a terrible tragedy.”
“There was little we had left to do. We had very few options left, and we had tried everything, and for many, many years,” Marcos Jr told reporters in a media interview in Pasay City prior to his departure to Vientiane, Laos.
“The Saudi government really tried to look and be sure that the judgment of hanging was actually deserved.”
DFA Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega told reporters on Tuesday that Filipino national, whose identity was not disclosed upon request of the family, pleaded guilty to the crime.
“He hit the Saudi nationals head twice with some hammer and then he even tied the corpse and put it on a cargo ship or something. He never denied that it happened,” he added.
De Vega said that the crime happened in 2020 then he was sentenced in 2022 by the court in Saudi Arabia. The concerned Philippine agencies worked quietly on the case and assured that the family knew about this.
In an earlier statement, the DFA emphasized that the Philippine government had provided legal assistance and explored all possible remedies, including a presidential letter of appeal.
“But the victim’s family refused to accept blood money in return for forgiveness of the Filipino, and so the execution proceeded,” DFA added.
De Vega said that the Saudi government carried out the execution “without prior notification” to the Philippine embassy or the family of the Filipino, following local procedures.
It also did not provide details on the identification of the Filipino who was executed out of respect for the request of the family.
De Vega assured that the country did provide legal assistance to the Filipino who was executed, and stated that the lawyers “had to work under Sharia law.”
“We will continue in the government to do everything we can for distressed Filipino nationals facing charges abroad,” De Vega noted.
“But in cases where the judicial system is more strict or has a different system, and when you’re really guilty, we can’t always succeed in saving you from the death penalty,” he recounted.
