Convicted OFW's fate in Kuwait known Tuesday

(Updated 4:19 p.m.) Kuwait's Cassation court will hand down at 3 p.m. Tuesday its verdict on Marilou Ranario, an Filipino domestic helper convicted in Kuwait for the murder of her lady employer in 2005, QTV Balitanghali reported Monday. The Court of Cassation, which is equivalent to the Philippine Supreme Court, will issue its decision on the appeal for clemency of Ranario, 35, a native of Surigao del Norte convicted to die by hanging for the death of lady employer Najat Mahmoud Faraj Mobarak on January 11, 2005. The militant Migrante International is holding a vigil with some relatives of Ranario in front of the DFA offices in Pasay City while awaiting the verdict. According to Migrante, the verdict will be out at 1:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m., Manila time) “Tomorrow (Tuesday) is essentially Marilou's final judgment day. We appeal again to the Kuwait Amir to ensure that Marilou does not suffer a fate similar to Flor Contemplacion. We are hopeful that Marilou’s life may indeed be saved," said Maita Santiago, Migrante secretary general. Vice President Manuel "Noli" de Castro said Ranario may likely get a commutation of her death sentence to life imprisonment. De Castro, also presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), said Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya told him "there's 70 percent chance" that Ranario would get a life sentence after securing four affidavits of forgiveness from the victim's mother and siblings. The victim's husband will sign an affidavit on Tuesday, he said. De Castro and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said President Arroyo and other government officials have already sent an appeal for clemency to the Kuwaiti Emir for Ranario, but Santiago hopes that “the appeal is not too late." “We did everything we can. We did not neglect her. However, we can not dictate to the Kuwaiti government on what they should do because they have a different judicial system," De Castro said. Romulo, for his part, said President Arroyo already sent a letter to the Kuwait Emir seeking pardon for Ranario. “I was informed by the embassy that she will get a life sentence. There’s a big chance," De Castro said. According to Romulo, the Philippine government was able to secure four out of six affidavits of forgiveness from the family of Ranario, which could sway the court’s judgment and commute her sentence from death to life. “We were assured by the embassy that the husband of the victim will sign (the affidavit) tomorrow so that leaves us to only one more, the brother of the victim who refuses to sign until now," Romulo said. Earlier this month, Endaya reported that two top-notch Kuwaiti defense lawyers --Ahmad Qurban and Abdel Majid Khuraibet -- argued Ranario's case at the instance of the Philippine government. Kuwait's 11-member Court of Cassation heard oral arguments on Ranario’s appeal on November 13. “Throughout her detention and the judicial proceedings, from the Criminal Circuit Court to the Appellate Court and the Court of Cassation, the Philippine government has spared no effort to assist Ranario and her family," Endaya said. Kuwait’s Court of First Instance sentenced her to die by hanging eight months later. The Court of Appeals upheld the sentence last February. Ranario’s father, Rosario, was disappointed at the status of his daughter’s case despite the reported forgiveness given by the victim’s family. Rosario and his wife visited Ranario in Kuwait in April 2006. He described his daughter's condition as already very thin and had difficulties talking to them. “Ang aking hiling na bago mag-Pasko talaga, para siya ang mag-alaga sa kanyang mga anak (I really hope that they release her before Christmas, so that she can take care of her kids), Rosario appealed during the weeklong picket for her daughter’s commutation at the Department of Foreign Affairs. Ranario is a mother of two — aged 12 and 8 years old—when she flew to Kuwait in search of a better life in December 2003. She earned her education degree at the Northeastern Mindanao Colleges (NEMCO) in Surigao del Norte. Ranario was promised a salary of 45 Kuwait dinars monthly as a domestic helper for a two-year contract. According to the Save Marilou Ranario Movement (SMRM), Ranario was transfered to a new employer, Kuwaiti woman Najat Mahmoud Faraj Mobarak, 45, in July 2004. Six months later, after allegedly enduring constant verbal and physical abuse from Mobarak, Ranario killed her employer and surrendered to authorities. In June 2005, the court referred Ranario’s mental health for assessment but was later found to be sane at them time the crime happened. Ranario was sentenced to die by the Kuwait’s Court of First Instance three months later. The Court of Appeals then upheld the sentence in February 2007. “In her bid to earn a decent living for her family, Marilou grasped onto the knife’s edge and went to Kuwait as a domestic worker—even though she is a teacher by profession," SMRM said in their statement. Meanwhile, the DFA assured that Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos and Endaya are personally overseeing efforts to save the life of Ranario. Migrante International, one of the groups spearheading SMRM, noted in its statement last month that the DFA reported during congressional budget deliberations that 35 OFWs are currently on death row. “[This includes] one in Brunei; two in China; one in the US; four in Kuwait; nine in Saudi Arabia and 10 in Malaysia," Migrante International said. The militant group also vowed to closely monitor the decision of the Kuwaiti court on Tuesday. Ambassador Endaya said Philippine embassy officers have regularly visited and counseled Ranario and attended court proceedings. The DFA and the embassy assisted Ranario's parents in their travel to Kuwait in April 2006 to visit her at the Sulaibiya Central Jail. Ranario's two children are provided counseling by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and scholarship by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, he added. Five seasoned and highly respected Kuwaiti lawyers have so far been provided by the government to defend her, Endaya further said. Representations to Kuwaiti authorities for clemency have been made on Ranario's behalf by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Vice-President Noli De Castro and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, he asserted. Through the efforts of the Office of the President, the department and the embassy, tanazuls (affidavits of forgiveness) have been secured from the family of the victim. - with reports from Mark J. Ubalde, GMANews.TV