KABAYAN Partylist Rep. Ron Salo expressed shock over reports that 83 Filipinos overseas are currently on death row, even as he called for a review of their cases and to inform the general public of this sad fact.
At a briefing on Thursday at the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs chaired by Salo, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) revealed that 56 of these cases are in Malaysia alone. The rest are in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, USA, Japan, and Brunei.
“It is surprising how many of our Filipinos overseas are facing death row and most of us are not aware of it,” Salo said. “The most recent case of Mary Jane Veloso, the only one in Indonesia, wildly agitated our political landscape for quite some time; now, how do we make of these 83 cases?,” he asked.
“Let us never forget that these 83 Filipinos are not just statistics,” Salo continued, “they represent the lives of our Kabayans who have tried to seek better lives for their families, but have fallen on dire times. In all this, we must do all that we can to assist them and their families,” he said.
“Most of these cases are already final and executory, and the only possible remedy we can have with them is securing a pardon,” DFA Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes explained during the briefing. DFA data show that most of the cases involve drugs and theft.
“As our only hope is a presidential pardon, I am appealing to our DFA and DMW to immediately undertake the necessary interventions and representations on our Kabayans’ behalf,” Salo said.
“The Philippine government, through the DFA and the newly created DMW, gives priority attention to distressed overseas Filipino workers through relevant assistance programs,” Salo said.
“But, finding out that we have these 83 Filipinos working abroad about to be executed should make us pause and assess how we can do more,” he said. “Let us strive to reclaim not only their liberties, but also their precious lives,” he emphasized.
“Indeed, there will be great value if we further enhance our proactive monitoring of the welfare of our overseas Filipino workers, especially those who are languishing in jails,” Salo lamented.
“Being in a foreign country is sad and lonely enough for our kababayans; the least that they should have, most especially in difficult times, is some comfort in knowing that their government is always there for them,” he continued. “We owe it to them and to their families,” Salo concluded.
