Family continues to seek help for Pinoy death convict Joselito Zapanta

After Joselito Zapanta, the Filipino on death row in Saudi Arabia, was granted a three-month reprieve on Tuesday, his family continued to seek for help in raising the P44-million blood money needed for his pardon. The deadline for paying the blood money to the family of Zapanta's Sudanese victim was on March 12. However, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud granted a blanket reprieve to all death convicts punishable by beheading in Saudi jails. The reprieve will end on June 8. Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay explained that this does not mean that the extension to pay the blood money to the family of Zapanta's victim 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," Binay said during a press conference on Tuesday. The initial deadline for the payment of the blood money was set in November last year but the victim's family agreed to extend this to March 12 this year. The blood money was also lowered from P55 million to P44 million. Zapanta was accused of killing his Sudanese landlord in 2009 but claimed it was out of self-defense. Breather In an interview with Saksi's Bernadette Reyes, Joselito's father, Jesus Zapanta, expressed his relief over the blanket reprieve granted by the Saudi King. “Medyo masaya. Nakaluwag nang kaunti,” Jesus said, adding that they could not celebrate just yet as Zapanta's life remains in danger if he fails to pay the blood money. “Kahit anong mangyari hindi namin kaya [bayaran ang blood money] dahil walang wala rin kami,” admitted Jesus, who sought help from other Filipinos in raising the blood money. Meanwhile, Joselito's young children, who were unnamed in the report, said they were also doing what they could to help their father. “Iniipon ko po yung sobra [sa baon ko para] makatulong po sa tatay,” Joselito's daughter told Reyes. “Sana po makawala na po siya kasi po miss ko na po siya. Gusto ko po siyang makita,” his son said. - Andrei Medina, VVP, GMA News