Migrante International extends its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of our kababayan who was recently executed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on October 5. The OFW had been in jail since 2020 following a murder over a financial dispute. This unjust meting of the death penalty marks yet another casualty in the five decade-long Philippine labor export program.
As Filipino migrants everywhere grieve for their lost compatriot, we hold the Marcos Jr. government accountable for failing to save yet another migrant’s life. Worse still, Marcos Jr. failed to assert the repatriation of the executed Filipino’s remains back to the Philippines.
It is pathetic that the PH government was not aware that the execution of the OFW was scheduled to be carried out. The OFW’s family did not even have the opportunity to say goodbye or request for a prayer. How can the Marcos Jr. government truly protect our vulnerable overseas Filipinos and their families when it has clearly failed to assert their rights?
The PH government has deployed millions of migrant workers to Saudi Arabia for decades, many of whom become victims of labor exploitation, abuse, discrimination, criminalization and even murder and do not receive justice because of slow government action and lack of timely legal assistance.
The administration of Marcos Jr. is spineless. Just as he denies dignity to millions of migrant workers when he sells them off to work dirty, dangerous, and demeaning jobs abroad, Marcos Jr. has failed to assert the dignity of the slain OFW. Yielding to the rules of the host country is a pitiful excuse and sends a discouraging message to many more Filipino migrants who currently face unjust detention and death row overseas. Our right to life, dignity, protection and justice must be persistently asserted by the Marcos Jr. government no matter what host country we are working in.
