02 December 2008 :

Philippine President Macapagal-Arroyo met Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud in a bid to stay the execution of three Filipinos convicted of killing fellow Filipinos in Jeddah. Arroyo met with Sultan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on interfaith dialogue in New York and relayed her wish of clemency for Rolando Gonzalez, his brother Edison, and Eduardo Arcilla. "She was there to see to it that the two Filipinos convicted will hopefully get some kind of reprieve or some lighter penalties," Press Secretary Jesus Dureza told reporters. The Crown Prince vowed to look into the cases, he said.