Jinggoy airs alarm over Pinoys detained in Qatar for 'love crimes'

MANILA, Philippines -   Senate President Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada expressed his concern yesterday over the increasing number of Filipinos jailed for committing “love crimes” in Qatar.

Vice Consul Gilbert Segarra said holding hands, public displays of affection (PDAs) and getting pregnant out of wedlock are criminal offenses under Qatar law.

Estrada, who chairs the Senate labor committee, arrived in the country Sunday after a four-day visit to Doha, Qatar. He personally asked the Philippine embassy in Qatar to expedite the case of a Filipino couple who were charged with a “love case” in Doha.

Rosalina Penera, 37, a resident of San Juan City, was found to be pregnant during a monthly medical checkup in February. She and her boyfriend of one year, Mario Pacinio, 25, were subsequently married in a bid to get an acquittal. They were working as waitpersons at an American base in Qatar before being jailed for two months until they were released on bail last April 13.

The couple wrote to Estrada before he left the country for Qatar, where he attended the Independence Day celebration of the Filipino community in Qatar.

Penera said there are 19 Filipinas in the Al Rayyan jail charged with love crimes. “We are seeking Senator Estrada’s help to give us a lawyer. We want our case to be dismissed and let us go back to the country. I don’t want to be here (Qatar) anymore,” Penera said.

Penera and Pacinio are still living separately at the employees’ barracks of the American base. The couple are jobless and the money they had saved is almost gone. They have been reduced to waiting for their co-workers to give them food, she said.

“We are not receiving any support from our recruitment agency, the Tamimi Global Co. They said they are just waiting for the development in our case,” Penera said.

Pacinio told Estrada their first lawyer had dropped out of the case and they have yet to contact their second court-appointed lawyer.

Segarra, who officiated their civil wedding, said embassy officials will present the couple’s marriage certificate to the Qatar court.

“We were told by Qatari police that their marriage, although it was done after they committed the crime of love case, may help to get an acquittal. But it will depend on the Judge. Maybe, for humanitarian reasons the Judge might just order their deportation. Love case is punishable by one year imprisonment in Qatar. Assuming that they are found guilty and sentenced to one year imprisonment, we will use their marriage as ground to request for clemency,” Segarra said.

Estrada vowed to provide a lawyer for the couple, saying he wants Penera to give birth in a hospital in San Juan.