Villar asks DFA to save OFW on UAE death row

Senator Cynthia Villar asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to step up its efforts to save the life of another overseas Filipino worker (OFW) on death row in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Villar called on the DFA to do everything it could to help spare the life of Jennifer Dalquez, who was sentenced to death for killing her employer on December 7, 2014.

The OFW’s mother said her daughter was arrested after stabbing her employer who allegedly was attempting to rape her.

DFA sources expect that the UAE’s Court of First Instance will issue a decision on Dalquez’s case on February 27.

The decision would either affirm or overturn the death sentence issued by a lower court.

An affirmation of the sentence would lead to the transmittal of the case to UAE’s highest court.

“We cannot and should not allow the execution of yet another innocent OFW,” Villar said, referring to the recent execution of Jatakia Pawa, the OFW from Zamboanga who maintained her innocence up to the end.

Prior to her execution, Pawa maintained that she had no motive to kill her employer’s 22-year-old daughter.

Her DNA prints also did not match those found on the murder weapon.

Pawa was executed last January 25, 2017, catching even the DFA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) by surprise.