03 July 2009

May Vecina Should Serve Her Time

May Vecina
Two years after escaping death in Kuwait, the Philippine government has arranged for the return of May Vecina to the country. Vecina, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) whose death sentence was waived after a full pardon by Kuwait’s ruler, will undoubtedly appear in several shows professing her eternal gratitude to the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The 30-year-old OFW received a pardon from Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah after she was found guilty of killing her employer’s seven-year old son Salem Sulaiman al-Otaib on 6 January 2007. The mother of two from North Cotabato province, was also accused of attempting to kill the victim’s 13-year-old brother Abdulla by slitting the boy’s throat, and his 17-year-old sister Hajer by stabbing her.

With all the resources of the government focused on saving the worthless hide of somebody like Vecina, officials clearly showed that they really have this strange sense of priority and propriety. Why would anybody in government have the stomach of using the taxpayers money to save from death row an oxygen-wasting creep like Vecina who already shown the world that she has the propensity to hurt, maim and even kill defenseless children? Why should the government continue to allow Vecina to breed more dysfunctional Filipinos who can spread more violence and misery, not only in this country, but to the world as well.

She reportedly suffered severe maltreatment at the hands of her employer causing her to sustain "temporary insanity" leading to her deadly rampage. Vecina also alleged that her employer repeatedly tried to sexually molest her but that she fought off those attempts.

If this is really the case, then kill the employer for crying out loud. There is no reason in this world that can justify an act of killing a seven-year old boy. Another fact is that she also attempted to kill a 13 and a 17-year old. Common sense and justice dictates that she should rot in jail just like Bernard Madoff.

"I don’t remember anything," was all May Vecina could say when interviewed about the crime. That's pure bullshit! Who can ever forget a crime like that? Maybe she just wanted everyone not to dwell much on the gory details, while cashing in on the assistance of politicians who only wanted to get their 15-minutes of fame on television. In this case, then the more that she should be condemned by everyone.

Why in the world would anybody show concern for her when there are other more important things to do to promote child welfare in this country of 90 million. There are still too many child abuse cases pending in the undermanned courts, several child abusers are still roaming the streets unchecked, child and infant mortality rates are still at very disturbing levels, nutritional awareness among mothers are still very high, drug taking and distribution using children as mules are still rampant and there are just too many unwanted children born every minute because the government failed to provide an effective reproductive health program.

It will be instructive albeit not surprising anymore to see the government using the unemployable Vecina as a public relations officer to try and prop up its image among OFWs in 2010. And this kind of stupid stance is all the more deplorable when one consider efforts to also free Bienvenido Espino Jr. who was jailed in Kuwait for stabbing Jhias Gumapac, a 30-year-old Filipina working as a barista, 33 times over a laptop given to her as collateral.

It is high time for this sort of government idiocy to stop. Assistance like this to brutal criminals like Vecina and Espino Jr. are an epitome of misplaced public priority and a sinful use of meager financial resources. If these convicted and soon-to-be convicted criminals cannot do the time, they should not do the crime. And if they really had been heroic OFWs deserving all the praises as the country's next set of heroes then they would not have been in jail in the first place.