Cheering Filipinos celebrated the homecoming Thursday of a 17-year-old maid who had been sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates for killing an employer she says tried to rape her.
Sarah Balabagan's case had become a symbol in the Philippines of female migrant workers abused by their foreign employers.Dozens of reporters mobbed Balabagan as she arrived at Manila's airport, escorted by the the Philippine ambassador to the United Arab Emirates. Outside, hundreds of people cheered and welcomed her.
A visibly tired Balabagan smiled but declined to take questions at a brief news conference, saying only that she thanked God and all those who helped her.
Her return was front-page news in most Manila newspapers.
Balabagan was released three months before the end of her one-year jail term. She originally was sentenced to seven years for the 1994 killing of her 85-year-old employer but then was given a death sentence in a retrial.
An outcry in the Philippines followed, and President Fidel Ramos sent three Cabinet members to the United Arab Emirates to plead for compassion. The family of her employer, Almas Mohammed al-Baloushi, agreed to drop its demand for her execution and settle for $41,000 in compensatory "blood money," and her sentence was reduced to a year in jail and 100 lashes.
Balabagan received light lashes shortly after being jailed and paid the fine with the help of international contributions.