KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines—The Filipina maid who was pardoned for the murder of her ward in Kuwait was finally reunited with her family on Tuesday evening.May Vecina arrived at the Davao International Airport aboard Philippine Airlines flight 821 shortly before 9 p.m. She was fetched by her husband Leo, together with their children Queeny and King James. “I thank God for giving me a second lease on life," she said in Filipino by phone over Radio dxND here. Vecina said she regretted her crime and that she did it out of extreme stress brought about by the abuses she suffered in the hands of her employer. Vecina was sentenced to death by a Kuwaiti court, which found her guilty of killing her employer's seven-year-old son in 2007. But she was later granted full pardon by the Emir of Kuwait Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah due to the appeal of the Philippine government. “Nang nalaman ko na binigyan ako ng full pardon ng Amir ng Kuwait, masayang masaya ako. Hindi ako makapaniwala pero sa tulong ng ating gubyerno lalung-lalo na sa ating Pangulong Arroyo, Vice President Noli De Castro, at sa kagalang-galang na ambassador na nakabase sa bansang Kuwait Ricardo Endaya, sa tulong ng buong sambayanang Pilipino, sa dasal nila na mailigtas ang buhay ko maraming, maraming salamat sa inyong lahat (When I learned that I was given full pardon by the Emir of Kuwait, I was so happy. I could not believe it, but I would like to thank everybody for the help of our government, especially President Arroyo, Vice President Noli De Castro, and our honorable ambassador in Kuwait Ricardo Endaya, and for the help of the Filipino nation, with their prayers),” she said. Vecina urged the government to look at the plight of other abused migrant workers. "Humihingi ako ng karagdagan tulong para sa mga naroroon pa sa bansang Kuwait at sa ibang bansa na nasa death row (I ask for additional help for those in the death rows of Kuwait and of other countries)," Vecina said. She named other Filipinos on death row and those whose death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment such as Marilou Ranario, Maria Fe Crusado, Minerva Tayag, Jakatia Pawa, and Bienvenido Espino Jr. | 
