Binay appeals for OFW’s life

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay has asked Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to intervene in the looming execution of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who was convicted of killing a Sudanese national in Saudi.

Binay, presidential adviser on OFW concerns, said he had prepared a letter to King Abdullah to ask him to intercede in the case of Joselito Lidasan Zapanta.

In his letter to King Abdullah, Binay said the deferment of the execution of Zapanta will allow his family to raise the blood money amounting to 5 million Saudi rial or roughly P55 million being asked by the family of the victim, Salah Imam Ibrahim.

“I join President Aquino in seeking your intercession in the deferment of the qisas sentence imposed on Zapanta,” Binay said.

The qisas, which is enforced in countries following Shari’a law, prescribes equal punishment for the offense committed against the aggrieved party.

Binay said the blood money or diyat is a compensation and a form of punishment under Islamic law.

The letter will be transmitted to Saudi Arabia tomorrow by a representative from the Department of Foreign Affairs, who will personally hand over the Vice President’s appeal to the king.

Binay said the Philippine government has been extending legal and financial assistance to Zapanta since he was apprehended in 2009.

He added that the heirs of the Sudanese victim has stood by their decision that the sentence be carried out should Zapanta’s family fail to come up with the blood money.

“Under Saudi Arabia’s law in this kind of crime, the family’s decision prevails. I am asking all of you to join me and the President in praying for our fellow Filipinos abroad,” Binay said.