By Fat Reyes INQUIRER.net 7:38 pm | Friday, February 1st, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine government on Friday thanked the Saudi government for its decision to shoulder nearly P25 million in blood money for jailed Filipino worker Rodelio Celestino Lanuza, saying the act affirmed the strong ties between the two countries. “On behalf of President Aquino, we would like to express our most sincere thanks to His Excellency King Abdullah for his gesture of kindness. This gesture once again affirms the strong ties of friendship and brotherhood between the Philippines and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a statement Friday. The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday that its government had made a directive for the payment of the balance of 2.3 million Saudi Riyals for handing over to the heirs of the victims of Lanuza, who had admitted to stabbing an Arab out of self-defense in June 2000 and was sentenced in 2002 to death by beheading. In February 2011, the Philippine government and the Saudi Reconciliation Committee in Dammam helped him secure forgiveness from the offended family. The family required a diyya or compensation worth P35 million. The embassy noted that the family had filed an appeal to the Saudi government after paying an initial 700,000 riyals (P7.6 million). In his statement, Binay also apologized for being elusive and not readily answering questions regarding the state of Lanuza’s case for the past years, saying that the cases of Lanuza and other Filipinos’ Read More …
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