Saudi King Pays Death Row OFW's "Blood Money"

Vice President Jejomar Binay and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario on Friday thanked Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah for donating the P24.9-million ($612,303) balance for the “blood money” needed for the release of Filipino death convict Rodelio “Dondon” Lanuza, reports Inquirer.net. “I’m happy to relate that our compatriot has been saved from the execution. This is because of the kindness of King Abdullah,” Binay, who's alsot presidential adviser of OFW affairs, said. The Philippine government had been quietly working for the release of Lanuza, who was sentenced to death in 2000 in Damman, Saudi Arabia for killing a Saudi national. Lanuza claimed it was an act of self-defense.