Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello on Wednesday said Jennifer Dalquez, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who is currently on death row in Abu Dhabi, will be spared from execution.

In a press conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Bello said he was invited by five ambassadors after he said that he will ban the deployment of household service workers to the Middle East if another OFW gets executed.

"I recall when there was a news that one of our OFWs was going to be executed, I mentioned, in passing, that if one of our OFWs get executed again, I('m going to declare a ban on deployment of HSW. Because of that, I received an invitation, a dinner invitation, from 5 ambassadors, and in a manner of speaking, parang may commitment sila na wala nang bitayan," Bello said.

He added that the assurance he got from the ambassadors will benefit the case of Dalquez.

• OFW sentenced to death in UAE for killing employer

"And that favored the case of Dalquez who is now in Abu Dhabi and who has been sentenced to die. Pero I was assured by no less than the Minister of Labor na hindi na po siya bibitayin. Probably 'yung bluff ko, brought very positive fruit kasi alam mo, kailangan nila ang Filipino workers natin. They prefer us," Bello added.

The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi, in a statement, said Dalquez's hearing schedule April 12 has been moved to April 26.

Dalquez was present in court but the two sons of the accused did not attend the proceedings.

The counsel of the sons of the victim conveyed that the sons did not attend the hearing because Dalquez has already admitted to killing their father.

The court, however, reiterated that the sons need to appear in court and swear in the name of Allah, 25 times, that Dalquez is the person who killed their father.

Failing this, the court will ask Dalquez in the next hearing, to swear in the name of Allah, 50 times, that she did not intentionally kill the alleged victim.

Dalquez was jailed in 2014 for killing her Arab employer who allegedly tried to rape her.

• DFA to appeal case of OFW on death row in UAE

- with a report from Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News