INQUIRER Global Nation

MANILA, Philippines?A Middle East-based Filipino workers group on Monday expressed relief that a rumored beheading on December 11 of a Filipino couple accused of killing their Filipino maid in Saudi Arabia did not take place.

The overseas labor alliance Migrante told the INQUIRER the rumor that the couple, Carlo and Marlyn Reno, were to be publicly executed that day in the eastern city of Al-Khobar surprised the Filipino community and let loose accusations that the Philippine embassy was again sleeping on the job.

Migrante spokesperson John Leonard Monterona said the inability of Philippine embassy officials in Riyadh to immediately confirm or deny that a beheading was about to take place fueled recriminations.

Department of the Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ed Malay in Manila said there had been no such beheading and that Migrante had been given a ?bum steer? (nakuryente).

"There never was a scheduled beheading," Malay said.

The DFA, he said, "was looking into the case of the couple detained by Saudi authorities on Dec. 8 for allegedly killing and dismembering their Filipino housemaid two years ago.

Migrante urged the DFA to keep the Filipino community updated on the cases of all OFWs on death row.

"We demand transparency," said Monterona, adding that the embassy should also tell their relatives "what they plan to do to save the lives of OFWs on death row.?

By Migrante?s count, there are 23 OFWs on death row, 20 of them in Saudi Arabia. For half of the cases, Monterona said the group only knows their names and has no idea about the nature of the cases. The embassy provides no updates of any kind.

He said the Filipino community as well as the families of the jailed OFWs would be comforted if they could feel that the government was on top of the cases.

?We were informed by some of the relatives of OFWs on death row that they were not receiving updates on the cases. Some said the DFA had promised to call them back but never did.

Migrante said that since 2001, six OFWs were beheaded in Saudi Arabia, namely, Antonio Alvesa, Sergio Aldana, Miguel Fernandez, Wilfredo Bautista, Reynaldo Cortez and Jenifer Bedoya. On the other hand, there are 14 cases of OFWs on death row that were commuted.