Saudi Arabia has put to death a Filipino charged with murder last weekend despite a presidential letter of appeal from the Philippine government.

''We appealed to the better nature of our friends in Saudi Arabia to perhaps have another look if needed. Of course the law there is very strict and apparently the conviction has stood and one of ours has been taken away. Very unfortunate," said President Ferdinand Marcos in a chance interview before leaving for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Vientiane, Laos.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the victim's family ''refused to accept blood money in return for forgiveness of the Filipino, and so the execution proceeded.''

No details were given about the Filipino's case which dragged on for ''around five, six years.''

Marcos said the government had ''very few options left.''

Nine other Filipinos are on death row in Saudi Arabia, DFA said.

In a separate chance interview, Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said they told the family of the Filipino about the fate of their loved one.

"The family is requesting privacy, but rest assured we are assisting the family, including the school-aged children," Cacdac said. DMS