TIME is ticking for 28-year old Filipino worker May Vecina, who faces death by hanging in two months as President Arroyo appealed for the second time to the Kuwaiti Emir to lower the sentence to life imprisonment.

Vice President Noli De Castro and Foreign Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. went to Kuwait over the weekend to hand over the second letter of President Arroyo to Kuwaiti Emir Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah.

In a press briefing on Monday, Undersecretary Conejos said the second letter dated May 14 requested the Emir for the commutation of the death sentence on Vecina to life imprisonment, “in the spirit of mercy and compassion and with full respect for the laws of Kuwait.”

Conejos said although three Filipinos in Kuwait face the death sentence, the appeal for clemency is more focused on Vecina because her sentence was declared final and executory by the Kuwaiti Supreme Court of Cassation last April 1.

“Once the Supreme Court of Cassation of Kuwait issues a final and executory decision...the judgment of [death by hanging] is transmitted for implementation that usually takes two to three months,” said Conejos in a briefing at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday.

He said the Kuwaiti Emir did not say something specific during the handing over of the second letter of appeal to save the life of Vecina beyond saying, “Okay let’s see what we can do.”

Vecina, who worked as a maid in Kuwait, has been convicted of murdering her employer’s 8-year-old son Salem Sulaiman Al-Otaib on January 6, 2007, and attempting to kill his 13-year-old brother Abdulla by cutting his throat and stabbing his 17-year-old sister Hajer.

Conejos said the first letter of appeal of President Arroyo to the Kuwaiti Emir was sent on December 2007 along with the appeal for clemency for another Filipino maid, Marilou Ranario, also sentenced to death for murdering her employer.

The DFA said two other Filipinos, Jakatia Pawa and Bienvenido Espino, were also sentenced to death by Kuwaiti lower courts for murder, but their cases are set to be filed at the Kuwait Court of Appeals.   

The situation of the Filipino workers in the Middle East takes center stage at the 2nd Global Forum on Migration in October in the Philippines, said Conejos.

Storm leaves Northern Luzon devasted; 12 killed, 9 injured

TYPHOON Cosme veered away from the country on Monday but not after killing 12 people and injuring nine others, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said.

TIME is ticking for 28-year old Filipino worker May Vecina, who faces death by hanging in two months as President Arroyo appealed for the second time to the Kuwaiti Emir to lower the sentence to life imprisonment.

Senate President Manuel Villar kept his ranking as the richest Senator based on the statement of assets and liabilities filed by members of the chamber, breaching the billion-peso bar for the first time in declaring a net worth of P1,041,383,9246 last year.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Civil-society groups in this city have urged local residents and local government leaders to be active in the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), amid the snag in the negotiation and recent phased pullout of the Malaysian-led peacekeeping forces in Mindanao.

The National Police chief, Director General Avelino Razon Jr., made the rounds of key areas in Cubao, Quezon City, on Monday to personally assess the implementation of visibility patrols and checkpoint operations.

DAVAO CITY—This city is the only city outside three Metro Manila cities to have a population of more than 1 million.

THE Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) deferred on Monday the implementation of the provisional fare increase for buses and jeepneys after the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) ordered the agency to further study the implications of the rate increase.