Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III expressed hope the government could still save the life of another Filipino worker on death row in Kuwait who was convicted for killing a fellow overseas worker.
This after Bello saw the wife of the victim, Nilo Macaranas, an engineer whom Elpidio Lano allegedly stabbed to death two years ago.
“I have already talked with Mrs. Macaranas. I told her that maybe, she can find it in her heart to forgive Lano. It’s now up to her and their family to decide if they will forgive Lano and accept the offer of blood money,” Bello said in a statement.
“I’m still hoping for the best for Lano. Hopefully, we can get at least a commutation of his death sentence, or better yet, his freedom,” Bello added.
In 2014, Lano was arrested after he was accused of killing Macaranas. He was sentenced to death by hanging by the Kuwait Court of First Instance. The court, however, has yet to set the execution date.
Lano’s case resurfaced following the hanging last month of Jakatia Pawa, a household service worker sentenced for the killing in 2007 of her employer’s 22-year-old daughter.