MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) A Filipina who taught English in Taiwan was sentenced to death by the Kaoshiung District Court for the murder of her job broker in September last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.In a phone interview, DFA undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. said the decision was handed down September 30 this year. "The first hearing of the appeal would be on the first week of November," he said. Citing court records, Conejos said Nemencia Armia, an undocumented teacher whose visa had expired, had a heated argument over money with her female Taiwanese job broker in the apartment Armia was sharing with an American man. "The court said she stabbed the victim to death with a knife, took her ATM card, and made several withdrawals using the ATM," he said. Conejos said Armia originally gave a voluntary confession, which she later retracted. But, Conejos said, other pieces of evidence -- the knife, the rope, and the garbage bag she used to wrap the body in, the ATM withdrawals, and a closed circuit television camera that caught her dumping the body -- led to her conviction. Initially, Conejos said, the American was detained together with Armia who eventually was the only one charged by Taiwan authorities. He admitted that the DFA did not know of the case because of the country's one-China policy. Armia's case is not among the 40 possible death-penalty cases being monitored by the DFA. However, Conejos pointed out that the Philippine government, through the Manila Economic Cooperation Office, has continued to give Armia legal and other assistance “from the very start.” “She has always been represented by a lawyer from the preliminary investigation phase. She had two lawyers during the trial, and she would have two more lawyers during the appeal," said Conejos. The DFA official said his office was now preparing to send Armia’s brother and her children to Taiwan to visit her. He said the MECO report did not indicate Armia's age and province in the Philippines or the number of her children, as well as how long she had been overstaying or how long she had taught before her visa expired. | 
