MANILA, March 16 -- Singapore-based Philippine officials are being accused of mishandling the case of a Filipina maid scheduled to be hanged for double murder, and the office of the president reacted Thursday by saying an investigation will be conducted to determine if there was negligence. Flor Contemplacion, a Filipina domestic helper found guilty of killing 4-year-old Singaporean Nicholas Huang and his Filipina nursemaid, Delia Maga, was scheduled to be hanged early Friday. Press Undersecretary Honesto Isleta vowed that Manila will look at the possible culpability of its officials one day after Singapore President Ong Teng Cheong rejected the appeal of Philippine President Fidel Ramos for a delay in the hanging of the 42-year-old Contemplacion. Isleta said Ramos was 'saddened' by the rejection of his last- minute plea to spare Contemplacion's life, but added that Singapore's sovereignty and laws must be respected. Meanwhile, Filipino columnists, opposition leaders, non-government organizations and religious groups have slowly shifted their ire against the Singapore government to the Ramos administration. Speaking before a gathering of foreign journalists, former presidential candidate Miriam Defensor Santiago deplored the failure of the Ramos administration to protect the rights of Contemplacion and other overseas contract workers. 'I trust the judicial system of Singapore,' said Santiago, who placed second to Ramos in a field of seven candidates in the 1992 presidential race. Santiago said the Ramos government was 'criminally remiss' in failing to come to the rescue of Contemplacion, who was accused of the double murder in May 1991 and sentenced to death in April 1994.
Santiago, who is running for senator in the May 8 local and congressional polls, said some government officials' indirect attempts to pin the blame on Singapore's judicial system is 'cowardice and manipulation at its worst.' Sen. Ernesto Maceda, head of the opposition Nationalist People's Coalition, has urged Ramos to recall the officials of the Philippine Embassy in Singapore, who allegedly ignored Contemplacion's plight during the past four years. 'It is depressing to hear that our fellow Filipino will hang in another country and this government acted too late to stop it,' Maceda said. 'Flor put her fate in the hands of these (Philippine) embassy and labor officials. How can they sleep tonight knowing that they let her down?' But the Foreign Affairs Department has maintained that Contemplacion was given ample assistance. Former Philippine consul to Singapore Elizabeth Buensuceso said, 'Contemplacion admitted to the killings right from the start' despite advice that she should not own up to anything until she gets proper legal representation. Manila earlier said its strongest chance in getting a stay of execution was the testimony of Emilia Frenilla, a former Singapore-based maid who was employed by the uncle of the dead boy. Frenilla left for Singapore Thursday afternoon to personally present, if possible, her testimony to the Singapore government. Frenilla has said it was Nicholas' father, Wong Sing Kiong, who choked Maga to death in anger because the boy drowned in a tub of water in an epileptic fit. Frenilla said she was not an eyewitness and merely overheard the brothers plotting to pin the blame for the deaths on Contemplacion, who happened to be present when the deaths occurred. But in a statement released to media, the Singaporean government said it carefully investigated the 'new evidence' and found it to be 'untrue.' One of the reasons stated by the Singapore government was the confirmation from Nicholas' doctor that the boy had no history of epilepsy.
