Philippines: Who Is Marilou Ranario?

The following is fact sheet provided by Migrante, the NGO helping the family of Marilou Ranatio.

Migrant worker: Marilou Ranario
Age: 35 years old (born 17 August 1972 in Carigara, Leyte)
Hometown: Surigao del Norte
Manila address: Brgy. Holy Spirit, Quezon City
Civil status: Married to Lolito Dalubatan
Children: Raffy John and Roselle
Country: Kuwait (arrived in 10 December 2003 for a 2-year contract)
Occupation: Domestic worker
Salary: 45 Kuwait Dinar monthly (approx. P7,425)
Last employer: Najat Mahmoud Faraj Mobarak
Case status: Death sentence by hanging under final appeal with Kuwait’s Supreme Court; a final verdict is expected in January or February 2008

OVERVIEW

Marilou, 35 years old, was arrested and imprisoned for the alleged murder of her female employer Najat Mahmoud Faraj Mobarak in 11 January 2005. She was sentenced to death by hanging by Kuwait’s Court of First Instance on 28 September 2005. Kuwait’s Court of Appeals upheld this sentence in February 2007.

Her case is now under final appeal with the highest court, the Court of Cassation. Oral arguments are set to start this November 13th with a final verdict to be released in the first quarter of 2008.

A closer look at her case reveals that Marilou is in fact more a victim than a criminal.

Marilou is a victim of a systemic poverty so intense that it forces more than 3,000 Filipinos daily to work overseas just to survive. In her bid to earn a decent living for her family, Marilou grasped onto the knife’s edge and went to Kuwait as a domestic worker — even though she is a teacher by profession. Clearly, Marilou went abroad because of her dream to give her children a better life – and not to commit a crime in a foreign land.

Marilou is a victim of abuse and human rights violations. She suffered maltreatment, verbal and physical abuse from her employer. She was also not given her salary, which was much needed by her family in the Philippines, for three months.

Marilou is also a victim of the Arroyo administration’s criminal neglect. From January to September 2005, when she was sentenced to death by hanging, Marilou received very little assistance from the Arroyo administration.