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Government efforts bring home Filipina DH convicted of murder
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Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Sarah Jane Dematera arrived in Manila on May 9, 2007 from Riyadh, accompanied by Philippine embassy officials led by Ambassador Tony Villamor & Labor Attache Sodusta.
OFW Dematera was freed from a Saudi Arabian prison after 15 years of incarceration. She was meted the capital punishment for the death of her lady employer in the oil-rich kingdom.
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Sarah Jane Dematera was 19 years old when she arrived in Saudi Arabia in November 1992 from the Philippines to work as a domestic helper. Four days later she was arrested for the murder of her female employer.
Dematera’s freedom, together with the release of the other undocumented and jailed OFWs in Saudi Arabia, was one of the favors President Arroyo personally asked from Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during her state visit to Saudi Arabia last year.
Dematera has expressed her gratitude to the President for the efforts of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, and the Philippine Embassy in KSA.
Her sentenced was reduced following efforts by the Philippine government appealing her case.
Dematera added that she is relieved because the government did not waver in its commitment to bring her home and made representations in Saudi Arabia to grant her a pardon and allow her to come back to the Philippines.
Dematera said she is thankful for the government’s tireless efforts in working out a compromise with the Saudi government so that she can return to the Philippines. “It has been very hard for me,” she said. “I know I’m innocent but there was nothing I could do.”
She advised her fellow OFWs to be careful when looking for work abroad, and pointed out the need to go through the proper and legal channels so that the Philippine government is aware of their whereabouts and can act on their behalf, as it did in her case.
“Sarah Dematera’s case is only one example of why we continue to impose strict guidelines in sending household workers overseas,” noted Labor Secretary Brion . “If they do not have the proper skills and knowledge, they are more at risk of being maltreated and subjected to other forms of abuses.”
The government has been imposing stringent guidelines in the overseas employment of Filipino household workers, following numerous abuse cases which lead to rape, murder and maltreatment, among others.
Dematera was sentenced to death, but this was suspended because the court judgment states that the punishment must have the approval of the employer’s minor children once they come of legal age.
Dematera maintains her innocence, adding that she was wrongly accused by the Saudi police. She claims that she witnessed the killing of her employer and was merely re-enacting the scene to the police. The police videotaped her re-enactment and used this during her trial.
The Filipina was not provided with proper legal representation during her trial, and her limited English speaking skills further compromised her position as she was not able to properly express and defend herself.
Since she was only 20 years old at the time, and was made to suffer from solitary confinement and threatened, she was forced to sign a “confession” statement, allegedly written by the police.
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