AN overseas Filipino worker who was once a candidate for the death penalty in Saudi Arabia for murder has been acquitted and was en route home yesterday.
Rose Dacanay Policarpio, 31, was imprisoned and charged for allegedly killing her female employer a few days after her arrival in Riyadh to work as a food server in 2013.
During trial, Policarpio denied that she killed her employer, adding she fled after an attempt to rape her. She claimed that when she went to the police, she was jailed and eventually charged in court.
She was eventually cleared by Saudi Arabia’s Court of Appeals which sustained the not guilty verdict handed down by a lower court, leading to her release and eventual repatriation to Manila.
“This is a vindication of Ms. Policarpio and a clear declaration of her innocence. In her quest for justice, she consistently denied the crime and insisted on her innocence,” DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said.
The DFA, however, did not say when Policarpio was acquitted.
Arriola said the DFA, through the embassy in Riyadh, assisted Policarpio in her legal battle, helped her secure her release, settled her immigration penalties and secured her exit visa.
“The DFA’s timely legal assistance ensured that her rights were protected under Saudi laws.
The Philippine Embassy also regularly visited her in jail and provided welfare assistance,” she added.
Last year, a Filipina OFW was executed in Saudi Arabia after being found guilty in a 2015 murder case.
In earlier cases, Filipinos on death row in the oil-rich kingdom were saved by paying blood money to the victims’ kin.
Of the 2.2 million Filipinos living and working in the Middle East as of January this year, more than 865,000 are in Saudi Arabia.
