Saudi King grants three-month reprieve to Pinoy, other inmates on death row

Even though the deadline for raising blood money for his freedom lapsed on Tuesday, overseas Filipino worker Joselito Zapanta will be getting another three-month reprieve. In a press conference on Tuesday, Vice President Jejomar Binay said a Saudi official confirmed with the Philippine embassy in Riyadh on Monday that King Abdullah has granted a three-month reprieve to all those on death row. Adbulaziz Abdulrahman Al Gaeit, assistant of the Undersecretary for Public Rights at the Emir’s office, made the confirmation. "Kinumpirma ng nasabing opisyal na nagbigay ng kautusan ang Hari ng Saudi Arabia na lahat ng mga kaso na ang sentensya ay pagpugot ng ulo – o yung tinatawag na qizas – ay ipinagpapaliban ng tatlong buwan.  Kinumpirma rin ng nasabing opisyal na kasama ang kaso ni Joselito Zapanta sa pagpapaliban na ito," said Binay, who is presidential adviser on OFW concerns.   "Inuulit ko, dahil sa kautusan ng Hari ng Saudi Arabia na ipagpaliban ang lahat ng kaso na ang hatol ay pagpugot ng ulo, nabigyan ng tatlong buwan na palugit o extension ang ating kababayan na si Joselito Zapanta," he said in a statement. Zapanta went to Saudi Arabia in 2007 to work as a tile setter. He killed his Sudanese landlord after an altercation in 2009. Binay said the reprieve begins the day after the deadline set by the Sudanese victim’s kin for the payment of the blood money. The reprieve would end on June 8. However, Binay said this does not mean that the extension to pay the blood money of more than P40 million has also been extended. "Wala pa pong desisyon ang kaanak ng biktima sa usaping yan. At yan po ang binibigyang pansin ng ating embahada sa Riyadh," he said. Earlier in the day, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that the Philippine government is doing everything to extend the deadline for the blood money. Last November, Zapanta was already given a four-month reprieve to raise the blood money, even as his victim's family agreed to reduce the amount from P55 million to P44 million. Binay, meanwhile, said he is still thankful to King Abdullah “for yet another humanitarian gesture. "His benevolence has given our kababayan a three month lease on life, and his family additional time to raise the blood money.  We also wish to thank the Emir’s office for their efforts in facilitating the amicable settlement and forgiveness, as well as the extension of the deadlines, allowing the maximum period for the settlement of the amount," he said. The vice president said President Benigno Aquino III and Zapanta’s mother Maymona had separately written to King Abdullah last March 9 to ask for his help. He said the letters were sent to the King through the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Binay also said Zapanta and his mother talked on March 10, when Mrs. Zapanta visited her son in jail. Philippine embassy officials accompanied her. - Kimberly Jane Tan, VVP, GMA News