Relatives, Activists to Pursue Campaign to Save Marilou Ranario

BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat

MANILA, Philippines — Tears flowed with the rain as almost everyone at the picket in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cried, and some even wailed after learning from news reports that the Kuwaiti Court of Cassation upheld the decision to impose the death penalty on overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Marilou Ranario who was convicted of killing her abusive employer.

“Nasaan na ‘yung sinasabi ni Vice President Noli de Castro na 60 to 70 percent ang (tsansa) ng kaso ni Marilou?” (What happened to the claim of Vice Pres. Noli de Castro that there is a 60 to 70 percent chance for a favorable decision on Marilou’s case?) asked Rosario, Marilou’s 64-year old father. De Castro earlier said that there was a “70 percent chance” that Marilou’s sentence would be commuted to life sentence. He also said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has already drafted a letter for the Kuwait Amir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad, seeking clemency for Marilou.

“Ina din s’ya, alam n’ya ang mararamdaman ‘pag di mo na makakasama ang mga anak mo. Sana tulungan nya ang ate ko,” (She is also a mother and she knows how it feels when you are not with your children. I hope she would help my older sister.) cried Weng,

Marilou’s younger sister. Maita Santiago, secretary of Migrante International, said Marilou’s fate is now in the hands of Kuwaiti Amir who will or will not sign the implementation of Marilou’s sentence. To show their condemnation of the alleged neglect by the Philippine government of Marilou Ranario’s case, protesters repeatedly held noise barrages and painted the DFA logo on the gate with red.

Representatives from the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrants Workers’ Affairs of the DFA later fetched the Ranario family for the official briefing at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. Protesters booed the government representatives for not informing them about the details of the decision. Santiago of Migrante International, a representative from the women’s group GABRIELA and Atty. Claire Padilla of the Save Marilou Ranario Movement (SMRM) accompanied Rosario at the briefing.

Padilla, who is a lawyer, said at the protest that the defense lawyers handled Ranario’s case well at the Court of Cassation. The government said two highly respected Kuwaiti defense lawyers –Ahmad Qurban and Abdel Majid Khuraibet — argued Ranario’s case at the instance of the Philippine government.