MANILA, Philippines – A Kuwaiti court has sentenced an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) to die by beheading for killing a compatriot last year, an embassy report said yesterday.
In his report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya said the Criminal Circuit Court (Trial Court) found OFW Bienvenido de Vera Espino last May 11 guilty of the premeditated murder of Jhias Gumapac.
Gumapac, 30, and a native of Cagayan de Oro, was stabbed 33 times following an altercation with the suspect.
According to reports, Espino threatened Gumapac after she refused to pay for the laptop he loaned her.
The confrontation led to a scuffle, and the death of Gumapac.
Immediately after the verdict, Endaya conferred with Espino’s lawyer and instructed him to appeal the case before the Court of Appeals.
Espino, 29, was indicted for the death of his fellow OFW on Oct. 30, 2007. – Pia Lee-Brago