RIYADH, 15 March 2005 — Four Filipinos convicted of murdering a compatriot were beheaded by the sword yesterday in the western Saudi city of Taif, the Interior Ministry said.
Miguel Fernandez, Sergio Aldana, Wilfredo Batista, and Antonio Alviza were convicted of murdering Jaimie de la Cruz “by stabbing him repeatedly until he died,” said a ministry statement.
They “stole all his money,” the statement added.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said the amount stolen was 200,000 Saudi Riyals (almost three million pesos at current exchange rates).
The department’s Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) is now informing the families of the four Filipinos, it said in a press statement.
A report from the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah said that on Jan. 6, 2000, the victim, Jaime de la Cruz, was found dead in his quarters in a hospital compound in Taif, where he and his attackers worked.
De la Cruz had just collected his prize money amounting to 270,000 Saudi Riyals in an underground lottery that day.
Six Filipinos, all co-workers of De la Cruz, were eventually charged with the crime.
Two of the six accused were sentenced by the Taif Higher Court to five- and seven-year prison sentences while the remaining four were meted the death penalty.
During the course of the case, the DFA-OUMWA said it brought the families of the convicts and the family of the victim together to settle payment of blood money, and negotiate for the issuance of an “affidavit of willingness” to accept blood money.
To help the families of the convicted Filipinos, the DFA also managed to negotiate with the victim’s family to lower their initial blood-money demand of six million pesos to three million pesos.
Using its legal assistance funds, OUMWA also sent a Shariah lawyer to attend and assist the accused Filipinos during their court hearings and to ensure that their rights were duly protected.
At the time of the execution, the DFA was still making arrangements for the settling all issues related to the raising and paying of blood money among the families of the convicted Filipinos.
However, the resolution of the case reached an impasse as the parties could not agree on the final arrangements for the payment of the blood money.
