Clemency for 30 jailed Pinoys being worked out

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will work out the grant of clemency to 30 Filipinos facing the death penalty in the Middle East during the observance of Ramadan in October.

Lawyer Raul Dado, head of the DFA’s Office of Legal Assistance and Migrant Workers Affairs, said Muslim countries grant clemency to foreign nationals meted the capital punishment during the Ramadan observance every year.

"We are optimistic that these Filipinos facing the death penalty will be pardoned during the Ramadan," Dado said.

Most of the jailed Filipinos are charged for murder in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Meanwhile, a Filipino worker convicted for killing his Indian co-worker in April 1999 was saved from the death penalty after the Philippine government paid 1.3 million Indian rupees in "blood money" to the victim’s family.

Ramil Angeles, who is now Moh’d Abdullah after he converted to Islam, will instead serve a 15-year jail term. — Pia Lee-Brago