For the love of a distressed cabalen, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will personally appeal to the Saudi King to spare the life of a Filipino overseas worker who was sentenced to death last Tuesday for killing his Sudanese landlord and stealing from him in June 2009.

In an interview over radio station DzRB, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson lawyer Charito Planas said

President Arroyo will likely take time out to personally ask Saudi King Abdullah bin Aziz Al Saud to save Joselito Zapanta from death.

“Si Presidente Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lamang ang nagsasagip ng buhay ng mga bibitayin sa Saudi. Siya po ang taong may puso at pagmamahal sa ating kababayan. (It is only President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who has been saving the lives of those sentenced to death in Saudi. She has a big heart for our compatriots in distress),” Planas said.

Zapanta, who hails from Mexico, Pampanga was given 30 days by the court to file an appeal. He is presently detained at the Malaz Central Jail.

Zapanta admitted killing his Sudanese landlord although accidentally after he was beaten up repeatedly for his failure to pay his rent.

Zapanta also admitted stealing the victim’s wallet and mobile phone which he in turn gave to a fellow Filipina OFW who was herself imprisoned for helping Zapanta.

The Filipina, who was not identified was repatriated to Manila last January after serving her sentence.

Planas said the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh is supporting Zapanta in his case and is set to meet with the victim’s family through the Sudanese embassy in Riyadh to settle the private rights (family settlement) aspect of the case.

Aside from Zapanta, Planas said another Filipino overseas workers is expected to be saved from death after Spanish King Juan Carlos I gave the President assurance during a private meeting that he will intervene to spare Jakatia Pawa from the death sentence handed down by the Kuwaiti government.

The assurance was reportedly given by the King during President Arroyo’s visit to Spain where she received the prestigious Premio Don Quixote de la Mancha from the Spanish King at the Palacio de la Zarzuela for promoting Spanish language in the Philippines.

Pawa was sentenced to death for killing the 22-year-old daughter of her Kuwaiti employer on May 14, 2007. Her sentence was upheld by the Kuwaiti government last Jan. 19.

“King Juan Carlos I conveyed his willingness to intercede on this matter,” Mrs. Arroyo said.

The King of Spain, who is a frequent visitor to the country has interceded in saving Filipino workers Marilou Ranario and May Vecina. Vecina was found guilty of slitting the throat of her six-year-old ward in April 2008.

Through the King’s intervention, Kuwaiti Emir Sheik Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah last year signed the Amiri decrees that downgraded the death sentences slapped on Vecina and Ranario.

Planas said in the past, the President personally intervened and worked for the commutation of sentences of Filipinos charged with heinous crimes, mostly murder in Arab countries.

During her state visit to Saudi Arabia in 2006, the President brought home some 150 Filipinos detained in various jails in the Middle East country after the Saudi King granted her request to pardon some 150 Filipino detained workers. (Charissa M. Luci)