President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured on Tuesday that the Philippine government devoted years to negotiating the case of the Filipino recently executed for murder in Saudi Arabia.
“I remember, mga 5, 6 years din. I came upon it when I came into office and they told me it’s an old… And as I said, I guess Saudi tried to exhaust all possibilities. So, did we, but to no avail,” Marcos said during an interview with the media ahead of his flight to Laos.
Furthermore, Marcos noted that he had previously written a letter to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, seeking to appeal for the Filipino's life.
The government also ensured legal assistance and representation for the accused Filipino during the proceedings.
Marcos remarked that, despite extensive efforts, the stringent laws in Saudi Arabia resulted in the conviction remaining intact.
“Unfortunately, the law there (in Saudi Arabia) is very strict. And apparently the conviction has stood and one of ours has been taken away,” said Marcos.
In light of the Filipino's recent execution, Marcos expressed his condolences to the grieving family and assured that the government is prepared to assist in repatriating the remains of the executed Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW).
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh confirmed that a Filipino national was sentenced to death for the murder of a Saudi national arising from a financial dispute.
