Guen’s husband to fly to Singapore

The husband of a Filipina maid accused of murdering and chopping up a fellow Filipina maid in Singapore is to be flown to the city-state to attend her trial this week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

"Edwin Aguilar will leave either today or tomorrow to be able to attend the court hearing of Guen Aguilar," DFA spokesman Gilbert Asuque said.

Guen Aguilar, a 29-year-old mother of two, was charged in Singapore on Sunday with the murder of Jane Parangan La Puebla, 26, whose remains were found in separate places in the city-state. If convicted, she faces the death penalty.

Aguilar’s husband has appealed to President Arroyo to intervene in the case, stressing that he believes his wife was framed.

In an interview in local dailies, Edwin said his wife is innocent and denied local news reports that a love triangle might be the motive for La Puebla’s murder.

"I do not believe Guen is capable of doing what they accused her of, much more of being unfaithful to me," he said.

The Singaporean police are expected to present the results of their investigation Friday, after which Aguilar would be required to enter a plea acknowledging or denying her guilt.

Asuque said the families of both the suspect and the victim will be provided with counseling by stress counselors from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

He also assured that the Philippine Embassy in Singapore was working to secure whatever unpaid salaries or benefits are due the two women under their respective employment contracts and under Singapore law.

The government decided to provide counseling after officials from the DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) met yesterday to identify support measures for both families.

Unlike Aguilar, La Puebla is an undocumented worker. She is not entitled to benefits given to overseas Filipino workers under the law. However, Asuque said the Philippine government will still extend all possible assistance to La Puebla’s family, particularly on consular and legal matters.

Aguilar’s case drew comparison to that of Filipina maid Flor Contemplacion, whose hanging in Singapore a decade ago for the murder of a fellow domestic helper and her ward caused a bitter diplomatic rift between the two Southeast Asian countries.

Many in the Philippines believed that Contemplacion was innocent and her death drew attention to the plight of millions of Filipina maids working overseas.

Loan, not love

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said an unpaid "five-six" loan — a debt payment system popular among Filipinos — was the cause of La Puebla’s murder, but did not say "who owed whom."

Gonzalez said information gathered by his office showed strong evidence against Aguilar, who was arrested by Singaporean police 12 hours after La Puebla’s body parts were discovered.

La Puebla’s head and limbs were found stashed inside a sports bag behind a metro station at Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping district, last Friday.

"The circumstantial evidence against Guen is substantial and strong. Her fingerprint matched the fingerprints inside the plastic bag containing the victim’s body parts. The train station had a monitoring video camera which showed that Guen was carrying the same plastic bag," Gonzalez said.

He added that the same type of plastic bag used to transport the victim’s body parts was found in Aguilar’s apartment.

"These are initial findings that are also given to the (DFA) by Singaporean authorities. But we still have to defend her," Gonzalez said.

He said the Philippine Embassy in Singapore and DOLE gave Aguilar legal assistance.

"Whether the evidence is strong and whether she is guilty or not, we have to give her legal assistance because we don’t want to repeat another Flor Contemplacion furor. Whether she is guilty or not, she is entitled to legal assistance from the Philippine government," Gonzalez said.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said she and other labor officials met yesterday with Singaporean Ambassador Lim Kheng Hua, whom she described as a close friend.

"We didn’t discuss the case at length because it was more of a social call," she said, adding that the issue was brought up only because Lim inquired about the difference between the Aguilar and Contemplacion cases. — With Jose Rodel Clapano, Mayen Jaymalin, AFP