Bulatlat

The father of Marilou Ranario, an OFW who is on death row in Kuwait for allegedly killing her employer, is disappointed to learn that her daughter is still on death row despite the reported forgiveness by the family of the victim.

BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
MIGRANT WATCH
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 40, Nov. 11-17, 2007

Rosario Ranario, 64, father of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Marilou Ranario who is on death row in Kuwait, expressed his disappointment that the death sentence on his daughter has not yet been lifted despite the reported forgiveness given by the family of the victim.

A Kuwaiti court sentenced Marilou to death by hanging in September 2005 for killing her female employer. An appeals court upheld this decision in February 2007. Marilou’s case is under final appeal with Kuwait’s highest court, the Court of Cassation. Oral arguments are set this November with the final decision expected in January or February 2008.

In a Nov. 7 dialogue, Rosario asked Philippine government officials if they can get Marilou out of death row. However, he said that he got worried when he was told by Atty. Paulo Sarep of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs (OUMWA-DFA) that there is no assurance that Marilou will be saved. Government representatives from Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), and Department of Social Welfare and Development-National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR) and Migrante International officers were also present in the dialogue at the St. Peter Parish in Commonwealth, Quezon City.

“May forgiveness na eh bakit hindi pa rin mailigtas ang buhay ni Marilou? (There was already forgiveness from the victim’s family but why is it that the life of Marilou still cannot be saved?)” asked Rosario during the meeting. He said that POEA, OWWA and DSWD-NCR representatives could also not answer his question and just pointed to the DFA for the update on Marilou’s case.

“Sana magawan ng paraan ng gobyerno dahil may forgiveness na naman (I hope that the government will find a way because there was forgiveness already),” Rosario said.

Rosario is currently in Quezon City to personally get updates and coordinate with government officials and other concerned groups and individuals about his daughter’s case. He said that his fare was provided by church groups and other concerned organizations and individuals, including the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), Catholic churches in their place and their Sangguniang Baranggay (village council).

Life in the province

When Marilou was still in Manila, she and her two other siblings, Weng and Allan, send about P2,000 ($46.73, based on an exchange rate of P42.795 per US dollar) monthly to help in the finances of their parents. Since Marilou worked in Kuwait in December 2003, she has remitted only twice to her parents because of the deductions by the agency and other dues. She has sent P11,000 ($257.04) and P4,000 ($93.47) in July and November 2004, respectively, before the alleged crime happened.

Though Rosario is grateful that his grandchildren have scholarships, he said that they are still living in poor condition in Surigao del Norte.

Since Marilou’s detention, Rosario’s family only survives by planting rice in a borrowed one-fourth hectare land. He is thankful that the owner of the land understands that he cannot rent it given his family’s situation. Out of the 10 to 12 sacks that he manages to harvest, he gives one or two sacks to the owner of the land as an offering for his kindness.

In times of calamities or non-planting season, he would depend on the sales of their small piggery. In 2006, OWWA gave monetary assistance to Marilou’s family which Rosario used to buy a carabao for farming and piglets to start their piggery. He said that they hardly profited from the piggery because of the rising cost of feeds. Though they can sell a pig for P5,000 ($116.84) to P6,000 ($140.20) each depending on its weight, they are also burdened with the feeds consumption amounting to about P850 ($19.86) monthly.

To augment their earnings, Rosario offers his carabao for rent to Anglo Exploration which conducts mining activities in their province. For a two-hour walk carrying the crude oil used in the mining site, his carabao rental amounts to P800 ($18.69). However, the carabao is rented only once a week.

Needing assistance

Already 65, Rosario said that he is already experiencing physical limitations in working. Aside from his grandchildren’s scholarship, he is asking for donations of food, particularly rice, and additional money to meet other expenses.

Though the OWWA in Butuan yearly gives $100 from a sponsor’s pledge, Rosario said that four of them (he, his wife and Marilou’s two children) still have to go to Butuan to submit the children’s records and for the children’s personal appearance in the government agency. Aside from the transportation expenses of about P100 ($2.34) one-way trip for each, Rosario said that he and his wife find it hard to travel given their age.

Aside from financial problems, Rosario is also concerned about his grandchildren’s welfare.

Initially, Rosario said that he did not tell the children about their mother’s real condition in Kuwait. But they later found out about Marilou’s detention because neighbors started talking about her after it was publicized.

“Umiiyak sila, bakit daw nakakulong mama nila (They were crying, asking why their mother is imprisoned),” Rosario said, adding that the children seem to always worry their mother’s safety. He said that they always ask him when their mother could go home, saying they love her very much.

Visit Marilou

“Payat na siya, mahina na pananalita, pinipilit lang niya magsalita dahil naroon kami (She is already thin, her voice is weak and she only tries to speak because we are there),” Rosario said of his daughter when he and wife Encarnacion visited Marilou in Kuwait in April 2006.

Last September, Marilou was able to send a letter to his father through the DFA. But Rosario was only saddened when he read Marilou’s statement that she was allegedly framed up. “Kung ganoon, wala talaga siyang kasalanan (If that’s the case, then she is not at fault),” Rosario said.

He also got worried when he learned that Marilou doubts if her case is really being monitored by the Philippine government. “Sa sitwasyon ko naman dito sa dinadalawan ninyo sa akin okey lang naman kaya lang, Itay, gusto ko kasing magbakasyon sa atin sa Pilipinas. Ang problema, hindi ko alam kung inaasikaso ba ako ng Philippine Embassy dito (My situation in the place where you visit me is fine but, father, I want to spend my vacation in the Philippines. The problem is, I do not know if the Philippine embassy is doing something about my case here),” she wrote.

He wishes to visit his daughter again to personally see her condition and attend court hearings, specially the oral argument on Nov. 13. DFA’s Sarep told him that the Philippine government will still ask the Kuwaiti Embassy here if his wish could be granted.

"Masakit pa rin sa kalooban ko na ganoon pa rin ang desisyon, walang pagbabago. Gusto ko sana naroon ako kapag basahin na ang desisyon sa kaso niya (It still hurts that the decision remains. I want to be there when the final decision about her case is read.),” Rosario said.

If the decision would be upheld by the Cassation Court, Marilou will be hanged. According to Migrante International, there are at least 35 OFWs currently on death row, and most of them are in the Middle East. Bulatlat