MANILA, March 12, (AFP): The Philippines said Tuesday that a Filipino who was due to be executed in Saudi Arabia this week had been given an extra three months to raise $1 million in “blood money” that would save his life.
Saudi King Abdullah granted the reprieve to labourer Joselito Zapanta, who had been sentenced to death by beheading for the 2009 murder of his Sudanese landlord, following an appeal by Philippine President Benigno Aquino.
Saudi authorities announced the extension of time on the final day that Zapanta had been given to pay the wife of his victim four million riyals ($1.06 million) in exchange for his life, Vice-President Jejomar Binay said.
Binay, who also acts as a special envoy for the millions of Filipinos working overseas, thanked King Abdullah for his “humanitarian gesture.”