Mandaluyong city: Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac confirmed Tuesday that the main suspect in the killing of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Dafnie Nacalaban had been convicted to 14 years imprisonment by a Kuwaiti court. ‘The new development here is the other case, the OFW who had been slain as well, found in the garden. Three other accessories were also convicted in their respective sentences as accomplices,” Cacdac said in a briefing at the DMW office in Mandaluyong City.

According to Philippines News Agency, on Dec. 31, 2024, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported that Nacalaban’s body had been discovered in the yard of her employer’s home in Saad Al-Abdullah, Jahra. Nacalaban was reported missing by her second employer in Oct. 2024, after losing contact with her. Nacalaban, who began working in Kuwait in Dec. 2019, was later found in an advanced state of decomposition following a police report filed by a sibling of the suspect. The suspect, a Kuwaiti national with a known criminal record, later on admitted to killing Nacalaban.

After months of coordination, Nacalaban’s remains were repatriated to the Philippines on Feb. 21, 2025, through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the DMW. Meanwhile, in a related development, Cacdac said the Philippine government continues to appeal for another OFW who was recently convicted for the death of her employer’s son. ‘Yes, she had been convicted, but that matter is on appeal,’ he said. ‘We have provided her with legal counsel and she continues to receive regular visits from our legal team in Kuwait.”