By GENALYN KABILING
The Philippines government has lauded a Kuwaiti court’s decision sentencing to death the culprit behind the killing of a Filipino worker late last year.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announced on Twitter the court verdict on the case of slain overseas Filipino worker Jeanelyn Villavende and expressed gratitude to Kuwait.
“Thank you Kuwait. The Criminal Court sentence a Kuwaiti citizen to death for the murder of her Filipino household worker, Jeannelyn Villavende,” Locsin tweeted Wednesday night.
“The PE lawyer Fawziya Al Sabah (thank you for your service, sir) said the Court’s decision was fair and in accordance with law and Sharia as the accused assaulted her Filipino employee for days and imprisoned her in a room until her death,” he said.
Locsin also relayed the country’s “eternal” gratitude to the Kuwaiti ambassador to the country. “To my brother, the Kuwait Ambassador to the PH, I owe you a debt of blood gratitude. My thanks and that of my nation and people is eternal,” he said.
He further tweeted: “And that is real diplomacy. Not of talk and wasteful travel expenses but of decision, decision, decision.”
Villavende died on December 28, 2019 in the hands of her employer’s wife. A local autopsy report showed she was tortured and sexually abuse while in the Gulf state. Her death sparked outrage in the country that prompted the government to impose a deployment ban to Kuwait for a month.
President Duterte has denounced the killing of Villavende and called for the maximum penalty for the perpetrators of the crime. Duterte, in March 2020, said he wanted the executioner “to cut off the hands” of those responsible for VIllavende’s death.
