CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—The Pampanga Inter-Agency Council for Migrants Concern has stepped up efforts to save three overseas Filipino workers from the death row in Saudi Arabia.In a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, representatives of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration agreed to facilitate the visit of the relatives of Ronaldo and Edison Gonzales and Eduardo Arcilla, said Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio and Norie, sister of the Gonzales brothers. The Department of Foreign Affairs also reiterated its commitment to exhaust all means to seek forgiveness from the families of victims Romeo Lumbang, Jerry Bucud and Dante Rivera to reduce the death penalty to life imprisonment. The inter-agency body has been racing against time as a court in Saudi Arabia on September 15 upheld the death sentence by beheading on the Gonzaleses and Arcilla. The body, formed in September, is composed of government agencies, the provincial government and nongovernmental organizations, including Migrante International. Norie said her brothers and Arcilla were not keen about taking the second option because they believed in the innocence of their kin in the 2006 murder case in Jeddah. In a text message in Filipino to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Edison said: "We want to seek redress because we have not killed anyone. Our accusers dished out lies because they were tortured [by the police]." Panlilio, who chairs the inter-agency body, said the second option appeared to be difficult because the families of the victims said they would only agree to grant forgiveness on condition that the remains of their relatives would be returned to the Philippines. "Also, I think the Arab culture and tradition does not allow exhumation," Panlilio said. He said members of the body would explore all means to convince the Saudi government to extend humanitarian considerations to the three convicts. Panlilio said Pampanga Representative Aurelio Gonzales and Archbishop Paciano Aniceto have been helping in securing the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment. Gonzales has been coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs while Aniceto has asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to intercede on behalf of her three kabalen (province mates). The Gonzaleses have submitted a handwritten appeal to the Saudi Supreme Court on September 27. "They fear that they will be beheaded anytime soon," Norie said. She added that the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia had yet to extend any legal assistance to her brothers and Arcilla. "They had no lawyers when the verdict was handed down [on July 23, 2007]," she said. The court also sentenced four other OFWs -- Efren Dimanu, Joel Sinamban, Omar Basilio and Victor Alfonso -- to 10 years in prison and 1,200 lashes as accessories to the crime. They are also natives of Pampanga. "No official from the Philippine embassy there are helping them. No lawyer from our government was present when the second verdict was passed," Norie said in Kapampangan. | 
