Noli sent to Kuwait to plead for life of Filipina

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sent Vice President Manuel "Noli" de Castro Jr. to Kuwait to appeal for the life of a Filipino worker facing death in the said Arab state. De Castro will carry a letter from President Arroyo addressed to the Emir of Kuwait "interceding for the life of Ms. Pawa," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on its website. The DFA is referring to Jakatia Pawa, a Filipina overseas worker who was charged with murder for allegedly stabbing to death Dala Al-Naqi, the 22-year-old daughter of her Kuwaiti employer on May 14, 2007. The Kuwaiti Criminal Court (trial court) convicted and sentenced Pawa to death on April 14, 2008. The Kuwaiti Court of appeals affirmed the earlier decision on April 14, 2009. De Castro's intercession "is part of the continuing effort" of the Philippine government "to assist Ms. Pawa," according to the DFA. Lawyers defending Pawa claimed that it couldn't have been Pawa, but other people close to the victim must be behind the crime. The DFA said that this theory was "bolstered by the fact that according to DNA tests, "the blood found on the murder weapon did not match hers." Representing Pawa at her trial were two top law firms hired by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait - the Khalil Al-Qattan Law Offices and forensic lawyers from Abdullah Al-Sabah Law Offices. In December 2007, President Arroyo and Romulo visited the Emir of Kuwait and interceded for her life. During the state visit of the Prime Minister of Kuwait in August 2008, Mrs. Arroyo informed the Prime Minister that she would ask clemency for Pawa if and when there would be final affirmation of her death sentence. To settle the private rights aspect of the case, the Office of the President approved last October the DFA's recommendation for the payment of an undisclosed amount of blood money to commence negotiations for a tanazul or affidavit of forgiveness. - ARCS/LBG, GMANews.TV