Kuwaiti court convicts suspect in OFW killing — DMW

Metro Manila, Philippines - A Kuwaiti court has convicted the prime suspect in the killing of overseas Filipino worker Dafnie Nacalaban, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Nacalaban, a 35-year-old household worker, went missing in October 2024 and was found dead and buried two months later in the garden of her employer’s home in Saad Al-Abdullah, Jahra, Kuwait.

Cacdac said the prime suspect, a Kuwaiti national with a known criminal record, was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, while three accomplices would serve time for a year.

The suspect confessed to the crime, Cacdac said in January.

“The processes may still not be over in terms of the possibility of appeal, but already we are thankful to the Kuwaiti authorities for the judgment that delivers justice to Dafnie and her family,” he told reporters.

The DMW chief said he met the Nacalaban family and assured them of continued support and assistance.

While President Ferdinand Marcos said the Philippines and Kuwait have “improved” their relations, incidents of OFW deaths in Kuwait have been an issue that triggered Manila’s deployment ban to the Middle East country in the past.

In 2023, OFW Jullebee Ranara was killed and her body was found burnt and mangled in the Kuwaiti desert. A Kuwaiti juvenile court convicted Ranara’s killer, the 17-year-old son of her Kuwaiti employer, of 15 years in prison for murder and one year of detention for driving without a license.

In January, OFW Jenny Alvarado was killed from coal suffocation when the heating system in her workplace supposedly broke down.

As of January, the DMW said there are over 18,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait, the sixth country with the most number of deployed land-based OFWs.