- Title: PHILLIPINES : THE FILIPINO MAID EXECUTED IN SINGAPORE IS GIVEN A MARTYR'S FUNERAL
- Date: 26th March 1995
- Summary: SAN PABLO AND MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES (MARCH 26, 1995) (REUTERS TELEVISION - AVAILABLE ALL) SAN PABLO 1. SV FUNERAL MARCH OF HANGED FILIPINO MAID FLOR CONTEMPLACION 0.04 2. SV COFFIN BEING CARRIED 0.07 3. SV MARCHERS CARRYING STREAMER "YOU'RE THE HERO( WE LOVE YOU FLOR(" (ENGLISH) 0.09 4. SV STREAMER WITH CONTEMPLACION'S PICTURE 0.12 5. SV CROWD AND TRUCK WITH COFFIN 0.31 6. SCU POSTER ON A JEEP THAT SAYS "DOGS AND SINGAPOREANS NOT ALLOWED" (ENGLISH) 0.38 7. SV CHURCH INTERIOR WITH CROWD AND COFFIN 0.43 8. SV CONTEMPLACION'S FAMILY - HUSBAND CARRYING STATUE OF VIRGIN MARY AND THREE SONS 0.48 9. SV ONE OF CONTEMPLACION'S SONS BOWING HIS HEAD 0.51 10. SV DAUGHTER OF CONTEMPLACION LISTENING TO A RELATIVE 0.55 11. SV CONTEMPLACION INSIDE COFFIN 1.04 12. SV RELATIVE CRYING 1.13 MANILA 13. SV POLICE CARS PARKED IN FRONT OF SINGAPORE EMBASSY 1.17 14. SV PROTESTERS PREPARING FLOWER AND PAPER FLAGS 1.22 15. SV PROTESTERS FOLDING UP PAPER SINGAPORE FLAGS 1.28 16. SV PHOTOGRAPHERS 1.30 17. SV PROTESTERS BURNING PAPER SINGAPORE FLAGS 1.31 18. SV PROTESTERS STEPPING ON PAPER SINGAPORE FLAGS 1.35 19. SCU FLAGS BURNING 1.50 20. SV PHOTOGRAPHERS 1.52 21. SV PROTESTERS CHANTING IN FRONT OF SINGAPORE EMBASSY WITH CANDLES AND BOUQUET 2.00 22. SV SINGAPORE AIRLINES BUILDING 2.03 23. SCU BANNER SAYING "THIS IS TO INFORM THE PUBLIC THAT THE SINGAPORE AIRLINES BUILDING IS OWNED BY FILIPINOS AND ONLY TENANTED BY THE COMPANY, SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED AND OTHER FILPINO CORPORATIONS AND OFFICES. THE PEOPLE INSIDE ARE FILIPINOS AND THE REST OF THE BUILDING TENANTS ARE FILIPINOS (ENGLISH) 2.05 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 10th April 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SAN PABLO AND MANILA, THE PHILIPPINES
- City:
- Country: Phillippines
- Reuters ID: LVA2XLDRWLN7OSZRMEM95J82JUUX
- Story Text: The Filipina mother of four hanged in Singapore after confessing to two murders was given a martyr's funeral on Sunday (March 26), hailed as a symbol of abused Filipino migrant workers the world over.
Hundreds of mourners crowded the cathedral in San Pablo, home town of 42-year-old maid Flor Contemplacion. She was was executed in Singapore's Changi jail on March 17 despite impassioned Philippine pleas for a postponement.
Despite Contemplacion's confession, many Filipinos continue to believe she was innocent of killing another Filipina maid and a three-year-old Singaporean boy.
They base their view on the allegation of another Filipina maid who came forward four years after the murders to say that Contemplacion had been framed.
They also complain the Philippine government did not do enough for Contemplacion. Philippine diplomats say they visited the condemned woman regularly in jail and she never recanted her confession.
Thousands of people watched as the body was taken from the cathedral for burial, some throwing flowers onto the truck carrying the coffin.
Hanged dolls dangled from some trees.
"You're the hero. We love you," said a sign near Contemplacion's home in San Pablo, a town of 500,000 people 80 km (50 miles) south of Manila.
Other signs called for a boycott of Singapore products.
President Fidel Ramos has downgraded diplomatic relations with Singapore over the execution and has banned the employment of any more Filipino domestic helpers there.
Some three million Filipinos, mostly women, are forced by poverty at home to work overseas, often at menial jobs.
They complain of frequent and widespread abuse such as rape by employers and official harassment.
Earlier on Sunday, protesters held a rally outside the Singapore embassy in Manila, reflecting the undiminished national anger at the execution. And a blast occurred at the Singapore Airlines office in Manila, but only minor damage was reported. No one was hurt.
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