MANILA — Malacacanang has expressed sadness as it confirmed the execution of a Filipina worker on Wednesday afternoon (Philippine time) in Kuwait.
“It is with sadness that we confirm the execution of Jakatia Pawa this afternoon,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a press statement he issued right after the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced Pawa’s execution.
Abella said the Philippine government through the DFA has provided the late Pawa all the assistance necessary to ensure all her legal rights are respected and all legal procedures are followed.
”Government likewise exerted all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion. Execution, however, could no longer be forestalled under Kuwaiti laws,” he explained.
The Palace official said the DFA is now closely coordinating and facilitating assistance to the family of Pawa in the Philippines.
“We pray for her bereaved family,” Abella said.
Early Wednesday morning, Pawa’s brother Lt. Col. Gary Pawa reportedly talked to her sister Jakatia and told him to take care of her two children because she will be executed on Thursday.
A DZMM radio report, however, reported that Pawa is set to be executed Wednesday afternoon based on interviews from jail and Philippine embassy officials in Kuwait.
On April 23, 2008, the Court of First Instance in Kuwait handed a death sentence on Jakatia for supposedly killing the 22-year-old daughter of her Kuwaiti employer in 2007.
In 2011, Kuwait’s Court of Cessation upheld the lower court’s verdict to execute the 42-year-old Filipina worker. PNA-northboundasia.com