Flor Contemplacion
| Flor R. Contemplacion | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 7, 1953 San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines |
| Died | March 17, 1995 (aged 42) Singapore Prison Service Singapore |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Occupation | Domestic worker |
| Known for | Executed by the Government of Singapore for murder |
Flor R. Contemplacion (January 7, 1953 – March 17, 1995) was a Filipino domestic worker executed in Singapore for murder. Her execution severely strained relations between Singapore and the Philippines, and caused many Filipinos to vent their frustrations over the plight of Overseas Filipino Workers towards both states' governments.
Contemplacion was born in San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines.
On 4 May 1991, Delia Mamaril Maga (born on Oct. 6, 1955 in Tarlac), a Filipino domestic worker, was found strangled to death in Singapore. A three-year-old boy, Nicholas Huang, whom Maga had been taking care of, was discovered drowned. Although Huang's father could not identify a suspect, the police learnt about Contemplacion through Maga's diary. The police interrogated Contemplacion, who initially confessed to the crimes of murdering Maga and Huang. Contemplacion never retracted her confession, and the Philippine Embassy in Singapore deemed her confession credible. She was then sentenced to death by hanging.
No medical evidence was introduced either by the prosecution or the defence during the trial, in spite of bizarre symptoms experienced on the day of the murders which she described in her confession. A witness, Virginia Parumog, said later that she had shared the same hospital with Contemplacion. The latter one day narrated how Nicholas Huang accidentally drowned, and that Maga's employer was probably the one who killed her, out of rage for his son's death. The witness also confirmed that Contemplacion related how she was tortured into accepting blame for Maga's death.
On appeal, the case was sent back to the same trial judge to allow medical evidence to be heard. The defence then introduced medical evidence claiming that she had been suffering from a partial complex seizure (an unusual form of epilepsy) at the time of the killings, while the prosecution's medical evidence maintained that she was only suffering from a mild migraine on that day. The defence's medical evidence was rejected and she was again found guilty and sentenced to death. She received minimal consular support from the Philippine Embassy in Singapore throughout her trial and there was no representative from the Philippine Embassy present in court throughout the duration of the trial. The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Embassy in Singapore showed an active interest only in the weeks leading up to Contemplacion's execution, when emotions in the Philippines were running high.
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