Overseas Filipino worker Jennifer Dalquez has been saved from death row after a United Arab Emirates court acquitted her of the crime of murder, her mother said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
Rajima Dalquez, mother of Jennifer, said she received the good news from a Department of Foreign Affairs official Monday evening, saying Jennifer was acquitted of murder for killing her employer in December 2014.
“Maraming salamat sa lahat, sa lahat ng mga tumulong sa amin. Nilaban ko ito dahil naniniwala akong walang kasalanan ang anak ko,” she said.
(Thank you everyone. I fought for her because I believe my daughter is innocent)
She said Jennifer did not know about the court’s decision until she called her mother last night. Jennifer was also crying when she heard the good news straight from her mom.
“Masayang-masaya siya. Hindi siya makapaniwala. Excited na siyang umuwi para mahatid na niya sa eskwela ang mga anak niya,” Rajima said.
(She’s extremely happy. She can’t believe it. She’s excited to come home and to be able to bring her kids to school)
Jennifer Dalquez was sentenced to death by the United Arab Emirates Court of First Instance in May 2015 for killing her employer in December 2014. The case was then brought to the UAE Court of Appeals.
In her statement, Dalquez said she stabbed her employer with a knife after the latter tried to rape her.
Her father, Abdulhamid, earlier said his daughter is innocent of any crime.
“Walang kasalanan ang anak ko. Self defense lang ang nangyari, nilaban niya ang kanyang karapatan, ang kanyang pagkababae,” he said.
(My daughter is innocent. What happened was self defense. She defended herself and her rights as a woman)
Rajima said Jennifer was sentenced to five years imprisonment by the UAE Court. She is expected to return to General Santos City in 2019.
“Nakulong na siya ng dalawa at kalahating taon kaya sa 2019 makakauwi na siya,” she said, adding that she asked her daughter to pray harder so she can come home soon.
(She’s already been in jail for two and a half years, so she’ll be able to come home in 2019)
According to a report by ABS-CBN News, 73 Filipinos are currently on death row in 9 other countries.
Most of them were convicted of murder (47), followed by 25 drug related cases. Fourty-one of them are on death row in Malaysia, while 23 others await execution in Saudi Arabia.
The most famous case of an OFW executed abroad was Flor Contemplacion in 1995, who was hanged for the murder of another Filipino worker and the 3-year-old son of her employer.
More recently, Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia, was scheduled for execution in 2015 but was granted a last-minute reprieve pending a case against her recruiter in Manila.
Re-published from ABS-CBN News
