RIYADH, 24 April 2004 — Foreign Undersecretary Jose S. Brillantes left Thursday night after six days of intense efforts to assist two overseas Filipino workers on death row in the eastern Province.
Sarah Dematera and Rodelio Lanuza are in the Dammam Reformatory. Dematera confessed to the murder of her employer's wife, while Lanuza was convicted of the murder of a Saudi co-worker.
Brillantes, who heads the Office for Migrant Workers Affairs (OMWA), is expected to submit a report to Foreign Secretary Delia Albert after arrival in Manila on the progress of his efforts.
"I went to Alkhobar and Dammam to explore all avenues to remove the threat hanging over them," Brillantes told Arab News on Thursday.
"I talked to many people who could be of help including government officials, lawyers, religious leaders, relatives and friends of the victims' families," he added.
Brillantes had been advised to seek the help of imams in talking to the families of the victims and convince them to help them in their efforts to have the penalties commuted.
Dematera was accused of killing the wife of her employer in Hofuf on Nov. 14, 1992 when she had just arrived from the Philippines, while Lanuza allegedly stabbed his co-worker to death in Al-Khafji in Oct. 2000.
There were no witnesses to the killing of Dematera's sponsor's wife, and she says she was coerced into signing a letter of confession. Dematera later retracted her confession before a judge.
She claimed that someone entered her employer's house in and an altercation ensued between the visitor and the employer, who was later found dead. Dematera was the prime suspect.
A hearing in November 1993 convicted her of the murder.
OMWA is prioritizing Dematera's case because the victim's family will make a decision on her case soon.
Lanuza has been charged with killing a Saudi co-worker during a party at their compound. The victim allegedly pointed a knife at the suspect who tried to wrest it from him, resulting in the Saudi's death.
