The Kuwaiti court has sentenced the main suspect in the killing of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Dafnie Nacalaban to 14 years in prison, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac confirmed on Tuesday.
“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 during a briefing at the DMW office in Mandaluyong City.
Nacalaban’s body was discovered in the yard of her employer’s home in Saad Al-Abdullah, Jahra, on December 31, 2024, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. She had been missing since October 2024, after her second employer reported losing contact with her.
Authorities later found her remains in an advanced state of decomposition following a police report filed by a relative of the suspect, a Kuwaiti national with a known criminal record who eventually confessed to the crime.
Nacalaban had been working in Kuwait since December 2019. Her remains were repatriated to the Philippines on February 21, 2025, through the coordination of the DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
In a related case, Cacdac said the Philippine government continues to extend legal support to another OFW convicted for the death of her employer’s son in Kuwait. “Yes, she had been convicted, but that matter is on appeal,” he said, assuring that the worker remains under the care of the DMW’s legal team.
