Pinoy maid 'chops up' compatriot in Singapore
Manila Daily Tribune Sunday, Sep 11, 2005
A 29-year-old Filipino maid was arrested in Singapore yesterday for the liquidate of another woman, believed to be her compatriot, whose head and limbs, police said, were found in the Orchard Road shopping district.
The suspect, whose idenbreasty cannot be revealed until she is charged in court, was arrested at her employer's flat, where a chopping knife and red
plastic bags were seized, within 12 hours of the remains' discovery on Friday.
The suspect is set to be charged in court today with liquidate, police said. If convicted, she will receive a mandatory sentence of rest by hanging.
A cleaner was carrying out her normal rounds outside a metro station at the posh Orchard Road district during the lunch period Friday when she came across an oblong sports bag stuffed with a head and four limbs, police said.
The head was wrapped in a red plastic bag, while the limbs were placed in two black trash bags. Hours later, a woman's torso was found at MacRitchie Reservoir, a heavily wooded park several kilometers away from the spot where the head and limbs had been found.
"Police are working on the possibility that all the body parts found yesterday are from the same person. Analysis and tests are presently being conducted by the Health Sciences Authority," a police statement said.
"Based on investigations, we believe the victim is a 26-year-old Filipino domestic worker," it said, adding the two women were believed to have known each other.
In Manila, Labor Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas yesterday said Labor AttachZ Miriam Cuasay had met with the suspect in Singapore and that the Philippine government was looking into extending legal aid to her.
Santo Tomas also declined to provide the idenbreasties of both the suspect and the victim, saying their families had yet to be informed about the matter. She also declined to tell of the possible motive for the killing.
Labor undersecretary for Employment Danilo Cruz, meanwhile, said the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Singapore had been instructed to coordinate with the Singaporean police and to provide updates on the developments in the case to Manila.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Manila told reporters that the suspect hailed from the Northern part of the Philippines.
OWWA chief Marianito Roque said a check on the agency's records showed the suspect was a documented worker and was legally working in Singapore while the victim was an undocumented one.
"We have the names (of the suspect and the victim) but we have not notified the relatives of both parties pending the release of the investigation and forensic examination results (by Singaporean authorities)," he added. He said the victim was identified through her fingerprints that matched those of in her pbuttport.
Philippine Ambbuttador to Singapore Belen Anota said the embbutty in the country has hired a lawyer to ensure that the rights of the suspect under Singaporean laws are protected. She added the suspect will eventually be buttigned two lawyers by the Supreme Court of Singapore.
The liquidate uncovered Friday is the latest in a series of crimes involving foreign domestic helpers in Singapore. Some 140,000 women work here as maids, mostly from the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
On Sept. 5, two young Indonesian maids narrowly escaped the rest sentence after being found guilty of homicide for killing their Singaporean employer, but they were handed lengthy jail terms.
The case also comes 10 years after a Filipino maid, Flor Contemplacion, was hanged in Singapore after being found guilty of liquidateing another Filipino maid and a four-year-old Singaporean boy.
The end triggered a bitter diplomatic row between the Philippines and Singapore.
