ILANG araw bago ang Pasko, umapela ng tulong pinansiyal ang isang overseas Filipino worker (OFW) na nasa death row sa Saudi Arabia para makaligtas ito sa bitay.
Nahaharap si Joselito Zapanta sa kamatayan matapos ang pagtay sa kanyang Sudanese landlord matapos namang magtalo dahil sa upa noong Hunyo 2009.
Humihingi ang biyuda ng landlord ng limang milyong Saudi Riyal o katumbas ng P50 milyon, na ibinaba sa P48 milyon.
Nakalikom ang pamilya ni Zapanta ng P23 milyon, bagamat kulang pa ng P25 milyon.
Sinabi ni Susan Ople, presidente ng Blas F. Ople Policy Center na humingi ng tulong ang nanay at kapatid ni Zapanta para umapela sa media.
“Unfortunately, the Sudanese family has refused any amount lower than their demand of P48 million. This means that the Zapanta family needs to raise P25 million in a span of two weeks, or maybe less, considering that a royal decree had already been issued for the implementation of the sentence,” sabi ni Ople.
Ayon pa kay Ople, nakumpirma niya ang kaso ni Zapanta sa Philippine Embassy sa Saudi Arabia.
“Joselito called me up yesterday to seek help and gave permission for the family to make the necessary media rounds with the hope that some good Samaritans would be able to help them. The amount is so huge and the family is really cash-strapped and extremely poor,” she added.
“Last Monday, I was in Riyadh to meet with Philippine Ambassador to Riyadh Ezzedin Tago. He confirmed that Joselito’s case has become extremely urgent. We are talking about weeks here, hence the need for the family to go public in order to seek everyone’s help,” dagdag ni Ople.