ILOILO City – “A sweet and swift justice.”
This was how the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) described the death sentence meted by a court in Kuwait on the Lebanese and Syrian employers of slain Ilongga overseas domestic worker Joanna Demafelis of Sara, Iloilo.
For the Demafelis family, this was an answered prayer.
Demafelis’ elder brother Joejet said they prayed for justice on Maundy Thursday, March 29, at the Manila Cathedral where their parents Crisanto and Eva participated in the traditional washing-of-the-feet rite spearheaded by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.
The Kuwaiti court sentenced to death Lebanese Nader Essam Assaf and Syrian wife Mona Hassoun in absentia on Easter Sunday.
“Noong invited kami ng Maundy Thursday ni Cardinal Tagle, ‘yun po ang isa sa mga pinag-pray ko at saka ng mga magulang ko, sana mahatulan na po ‘yung mag-asawa,” Joejet told Panay News yesterday.
Assaf and Hassoun were arrested in Syria in late February. But while Syrian authorities detained Hassoun in Damascus, they deported Assaf to Lebanon.
“I made a call to Kuwaiti Ambassador Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh. He confirmed the conviction and the penalty imposed was capital punishment by hanging,” said Bello in a press briefing yesterday.
In 2016 Assaf and Hassoun left Kuwait where they had Demafelis as their domestic helper.
Demafelis was found dead inside a freezer in the couple’s abandoned Kuwait apartment in Feb. 6 this year. She was believed to have died for over a year already.
According to reports, Assaf and Hassoun could still appeal the death sentence.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson said justice won’t be served until Demafelis’ killers are put to death.
“The conviction in absentia of the Lebanese/Syrian couple may appear like a Pyrrhic victory for Joanna’s family and the Filipino people until the execution of the sentence is finally carried out,” said Lacson.
On the other hand, Sen. Joel Villanueva hoped the conviction would not just be a “paper victory.”
“(The couple) should be made to face the consequence of what they did in Kuwait before we can even think of any talk with the family of Demafelis for forgiveness,” said Villanueva.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in Beirut will meet with Lebanese authorities handling the case of Assaf to see how they would want to proceed, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.
Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency (NNA) reported last week that 40-year-old Assaf confessed to the crime and was charged with murder in that Middle Eastern country after he was deported there from Syria.
According to the NNA, prosecutors in Lebanon were pressing for death as penalty for Assaf.
DFA undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said that should they decide to hold the trials in Beirut, the Philippine government is ready to provide lawyers to assist.
She said the meeting is scheduled today.
Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa said Kuwaiti authorities have requested the extradition of Assaf but noted there is a possibility that Lebanon may decide against the turnover and try the case in Beirut instead.
The Demafelis family of Sitio Cordero, Barangay Ferraris, Sara, Iloilo had been demanding justice for their 29-year-old daughter from both the Kuwaiti and Philippine governments.
Officers from Interpol were involved in the arrest of the suspects.
They should also suffer what Joanna went through, according to grieving mother Eva.
Autopsy showed Joanna suffered from repeated beatings.
“We continue to look forward to the cooperation of our friends not only in Kuwait but also in Lebanon and Syria in our efforts to bring this case to a close,” said Foreign Affairs secretary Alan Peter Cayetano in a statement yesterday.
Cayetano said Kuwaiti authorities informed DFA undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola of the court decision during a meeting on Sunday.
Then 26 years old, Joanna left the country for Kuwait in May 18, 2014 six months after super typhoon “Yolanda” struck.
She wanted to rebuild their house that “Yolanda” destroyed, according to Eva.
Joanna’s last contact with her family was in May 2016. She told them she wanted to extend her stay in Kuwait.
“We take note of the swift action taken by Kuwaiti authorities in connection with the murder of our kababayan Joanna Demafelis,” Cayetano said. “This is a very important development in our quest for justice for Joanna.”/PN
