MANILA – A Filipino migrant rights group Migrante has called on the Philippine government to save the life of a Filipino worker who is now on death row in Saudi Arabia.
It said Joselito Zapanta, who accidentally killed his abusive Sudanese landlord in self-defense, may be executed next month if his family fails to raise around P45 million blood money demanded by the victim’s family in exchange for forgiveness.
The victim brutally attacked Zapanta while trying to collect in advance his apartment rental in June 2009.
In Shariah law, “Diya,” a financial compensation paid to the heirs of a victim is allowed and well recognized doctrine in exchange of forgiveness to the convict.
“We are calling on President Aquino to share a considerable amount for OFW Zapanta’s blood money. This time he can take it from his billions of special purpose funds; we have also a standing call to President Aquino to allocate funds to effect the immediate repatriation, to pay for immigration penalties and documentation of the more than 4,000 stranded OFWs in Saudi Arabia,” Migrante-Middle East and North Africa coordinator John Leonard Monterona said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
“OFW Zapanta is not only a victim of his own deplorable condition under his abusive Sudanese landlord, but also of the criminal neglect of the Philippine Embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs for their failure to provide legal assistance and hire local lawyer for his defense,” Monterona said.
Migrante earlier called on fellow OFWs to share whatever they could to help Zapanta.
“While we call on our fellow OFWs to share based on what they have for the blood money of OFW Zapanta, the responsibility to raise an amount for Zapanta’s blood money, as well as any other assistance being sought, is at the hand of the Aquino administration,” Monterona said.
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