China's decision to postpone execution of 3 Filipino drug smugglers “unprecedented” and “unusual”

Chinese mobile execution unit
training for lethal injections

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines thanked China yesterday for its “unprecedented” and “unusual” decision to postpone the execution of three Filipinos convicted for drug smuggling and to allow a review of their cases.

The development has raised hopes for a commutation of the death sentence.

In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said President Aquino made a timely decision to send a delegation to China led by Vice President Jejomar Binay to plead for clemency for the three Filipinos on death row.

Binay is the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns.

“The President’s decision in sending Vice President Binay to China was timely. We welcome the postponement of the execution of the three Filipino nationals within the scope of Chinese law,” Romulo said.

Sources at the DFA said China had informed Binay of the Supreme People’s Court’s decision to review the cases of the three Filipinos.

Foreign Affairs officials said that while China’s decision to stay the execution of the Filipinos may be a “temporary victory,” they remained hopeful that the court would eventually commute the sentence.

“I’m very happy. This is unprecedented. It’s so unusual (postponement of execution). The Supreme Court assured Vice President Binay the decision on the case of the three Filipinos will be reviewed,” a DFA official said.

“Walang sinabi na hindi na itutuloy basta pending review ito. Sana huwag na matuloy ang execution (There was no mention of the execution being cancelled, but it’s under review. We hope the execution does not push through),” the official said.

“Very likely there will be an appeal of the decision,” another official said.

“If there’ll be commutation then it will be unprecedented,” he said.

“The Vice President made the right move. This is a victory for us, although temporary. To my memory, this was the only time China made such a decision. The biggest factor here is the presence of Vice President Binay,” another official said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu emphasized during a press conference in Beijing on Friday that Filipinos are rarely sentenced to death for drug trafficking.

Ma said the Chinese government attaches great importance to friendly relations with the Philippines.

“Since President Aquino came into office, through joint efforts, China-Philippine relations have entered into a new development stage with sound cooperation across the board. We hope and believe the Philippines will proceed from the overall interests of bilateral relations and properly handle relevant issue in a joint effort to maintain the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations,” Ma said.

“The line of communication between the two countries stays open and China is ready to keep in contact with the Philippines,” he said.

On Friday night, China ordered a stay in the execution of Ramon Credo, 42; Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, 32; and Elizabeth Batain, 38, following Binay’s meeting with Dai Bongguo, state councilor; Wang Shengjun, president of the Supreme People’s Court; and Zhang Zhijun, executive vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China’s court had scheduled Credo’s and Villanueva’s execution tomorrow and Batain’s on Tuesday.

“The two sides exchanged views on a wide range of issues concerning bilateral relations, including judicial cooperation. The two sides expressed the determination to work together and make joint efforts in further strengthening the relationship of strategic cooperation,” a joint Philippine-China statement read.

“The Philippines and China are determined to work together in the fight against transnational crimes, including drug trafficking,” it read.

Credo was convicted for smuggling 4,113 grams of heroin on Dec. 28, 2008 in Xiamen while Villanueva was meted the death penalty on Dec. 24 in the same year for smuggling 4,110 grams of heroin in Xiamen.

Batain was found in possession of 6,800 grams of heroin in Shenzhen and sentenced on May 24, 2008.

Elated

House leaders welcomed China’s decision but expressed hope for a commutation of the sentence.

The lawmakers also called for a review of the country’s policy on handling such cases as well as an investigation into why illegal drugs were able to slip out of the airport.

“I recognize the sovereignty of China over their territory and remain hopeful that the postponement of the execution becomes a permanent stay and commutation of sentence,” Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III said.

“Without condoning the acts of the Filipinos, who allowed themselves to be drug couriers, that gives us a brief sigh of relief. I just hope that the Chinese government would understand that they are not hardened criminals and were forced to do it because of poverty and commute the penalty to life imprisonment instead,” House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales said.

Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay is also pushing for a probe on how the drug mules were able to escape the scrutiny of airport personnel.

“The agencies in charge should be investigated and corrected right away so that we will not have kababayans caught and declared guilty of drug trafficking in other countries,” Magsaysay said.

Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo urged Filipinos wanting to work abroad “to be more circumspect and cautious.”

“The government should form a top caliber legal team to represent OFWs in similar situations and not depend on embassy officials or by themselves,” Castelo said.

Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said the reprieve showed the goodwill and healthy relationships between the Philippines and China.

“If we had that death penalty and three Chinese nationals who were facing execution were granted reprieve by our government to accommodate a request from the Chinese government, how could our democratic media and public opinion react to such? I am just wondering, how would the members of both Houses of Congress, especially those in the minority, react?” Fariñas said.

“It (reprieve) means that President Aquino’s goodwill in the international community is very high. However, the efforts of the government to save the lives of our kababayans should not be interpreted to mean that we are encouraging drug trafficking,” Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said.

Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo congratulated Binay for his efforts and said the postponement has given the nation fresh hopes.

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, chairman of the House committee on overseas workers affairs, said that despite the diplomatic breakthrough, the country’s foreign policy is now “hostage” to the fate of the three convicts.

“I think it’s a really positive development, but it is not a pardon or commutation of sentence. There is a downside to this in that, in a way, Philippine foreign policy is now hostage to the fate of the OFWs,” Bello said.

He observed that China has gained undue leverage from the development.

“The consideration that China may decide to carry out the executions may now hang as a sword of Damocles in our other dealings with that government,” Bello said.

He said the challenge facing the Philippine government is balancing national interest and the safety and welfare of Filipinos on the death row in China.

“The challenge for us is to delink our foreign policy toward China from the fate of our OFWs facing the death sentence,” Bello said. “This will be a real challenge.”

At the Senate, Sen. Loren Legarda, who chairs the committee on foreign relations, said China’s decision signified the country’s willingness to listen to appeals from the Philippine government.

But Legarda said the issue should compel the administration to step up its drive against human trafficking to put a stop to instances of Filipinos being used as drug mules by drug syndicates.

“We must look at the long-term solution by strengthening anti-human trafficking laws and not allowing our people to fall prey to syndicates and becoming drug mules,” Legarda said.

She said it was poverty that drove many Filipinos to engage in illegal activities like drug smuggling. But in many cases, they were only misled into serving as drug couriers.

For Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, treasurer of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the development was “divine intervention.”

“Power of prayer moved the hearts of the people, there was divine intervention,” he said in a text message sent to Church-run Radio Veritas.

“Life is sacred and we should give opportunity to people who made mistakes to change, to start a new life. It is important that we constantly plead with the high officials in behalf of others, especially the poor,” he said.

He said he was still hoping the Chinese government would eventually agree to a commutation.

He also said the experience of the three Filipinos should serve as lesson to their countrymen that they should not engage in illegal activities.

Source: philSTAR.com, February 20, 2011

79 Pinoys on China death row

Apart from the 3 whose execution has been deferred, there are 79 other Filipinos awaiting their fate on China's death row, an overseas workers group said yesterday.

Migrante International said more than 120 other Filipino workers are also facing death sentences in other countries.

The group lauded the efforts of President Aquino in successfully halting the execution of the 3 Filipino workers in China.

However, the government should not give its "best shot" at the last minute in saving the lives of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on death row because "this is not a game," Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said.

"The Aquino government should waste no time to start, as early as this time, appealing to the Chinese government the commutation of the other 79 OFWs on death row, and also the more than 120 others in other countries," the group said.

Monterona said Migrante is presently handling the cases of eight Filipinos on death row and 121 others in jail in the Middle East. He said 13 of the Filipino workers jailed face drug-related offenses.

Since 2005, six Filipinos whose cases Migrante has handled have been executed, mostly in Saudi Arabia.

Monterona said every case of OFWs on death row must be treated with urgency by the Philippine government.

The case of the 3 OFWs, who were supposed to be executed on Monday and Tuesday, is a bitter reality to confront; efforts to save OFWs whose cases are punishable by death should start from the time a proper case has been filed and hiring the best legal defense team the government can provide," Monterona said, noting that most were victims of international drug syndicates.

Monterona suggested the launching of a national campaign involving all concerned government agencies to inform the public of the dangers of being victimized by international drug traffickers and syndicates.

"The foreign affairs department and various Philippine posts abroad must be ready to do their share in the campaign against drug trafficking and syndicates by swapping information and forging cooperation with the host government to combat this drug menace victimizing our dear OFWs," Monterona said.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also suggested going after the principal players of the international drug cartel.

Estrada blamed illegal recruiters behind the plight of unsuspecting Filipino workers, mostly women, who are enticed to become "drug mules" or couriers of international drug syndicates.

The women are paid between $500 and $5,000 to swallow tubes containing the drugs, carry them hidden in their luggage or even dissolved and soaked into paper or books.

The lack of jobs at home is a major reason why women in particular resort to smuggling drugs.

Estrada said authorities must focus their attention on the personalities involved in enticing Filipino workers to transport illegal drugs.

Estrada noted most of the suspected drug mules are not even OFWs registered at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

Alarming trend

Other lawmakers had sounded the alarm on drug mules in 2009.

Senators Pia Cayetano, Manuel Villar and Loren Legarda said there had been an increasing trend of using Filipino overseas workers and tourists as drug mules.

Villar recalled the case of Nilfa Dumalagan who was recruited by a Nigerian married to a Filipino woman to get a package from Peru.

Villar said Dumalagan had a tourist visa to Malaysia when she met the “recruiters” but she was able to escape the syndicate before embarking on her 1st stint as a drug mule.

According to Villar, the Nigerian drug cartels are one of the biggest and most notorious in global drug operations.

Villar had filed Senate Resolution 1192 citing that in 2008, 111 Filipinos were arrested for drug-related offenses in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Villar said the Philippines ranks fifth in methamphetamine confiscation from 1998 to 2007, based from the United Nations' office on Drug and Crime 2009 World Drug Report.

Villar noted a majority of the arrests had stemmed from drugs stashed in luggage supposedly given to them by recruiters they met in a transit country, usually Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Laos or Vietnam.

The members of foreign drug rings give Filipino mules tickets and pocket money to travel to Hong Kong or to China with a promise to pay the carriers upon delivery of the drugs to their destination.

The Blas Ople Center also said there are now more than 500 drug cases involving Filipinos in different parts of the world, mostly in China.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said there was almost six hundred percent increase from the 16 people arrested in 2007 for drug related offenses.

Of those arrested in 2007 and 2008, a total of 22 are facing death sentence, 12 have gotten life terms while 11 have been made to serve 15 to 16 years prison terms.

Sen. Vicente Sotto III, who served as chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board, said there are about 200 cases involving Filipinos facing drug related cases in China.

Sotto also revealed a Nigerian drug syndicate operating with drug mules in China usually targets desperate Filipino workers with a promise of money and extension of their visa.

"That's why it's very inviting. They can renew their visa and it's given to them for free. And they even have money on the side," Sotto said.

Senator Cayetano revealed there are about 630 Filipinos detained in prisons abroad facing drug trafficking cases. China had the biggest number of detainees at 250, 75 of whom are already in death row.

Cayetano filed Resolution 282 in noting that 62 % or 6 out of every 10 Filipinos are detained abroad for drug trafficking.

On the other hand, the London-based Amnesty International (AI) revealed China had been relentless in carrying out executions of suspected drug traffickers.

The AI in its 2008 statistics disclosed that China posted over 1,700 executions carried out followed by Iran with only more than 340.

The AI slammed China for not being transparent as to the figures of executions it conducts every year. The organization based its statistics on publicized cases of Chinese executions.

The AI believes China has conducted many unreported executions.

The AI reported that in the 1990s, executions in China increased to 10,000 as its annual average.

In 1996, after an aggressive anti-crime campaign was carried out in China, there were 4,367, or roughly 12 people a day being executed, the AI said.

A report from the Associated Press also revealed that Chinese authorities also extend its firm stance on executions of foreigners in its jurisdiction.

AP recounts that in 2009, China has demonstrated its firm imposition of its verdict against 53-year-old Akhmal Shaik, a British national.

Shaik was charged for carrying four kilos of heroin to China and was condemned to death after a trial that lasted less than an hour.

Despite exhausting all legal remedies including his admission of mental instability, Shaik was executed in the same year that strained the relations between Britain and China.

The recent sojourn of Vice President Jejomar Binay however led to the stay of execution of the 3 Filipino workers who were supposed to be executed today and tomorrow.

The Philippines, in a joint statement with China said, "it fully respects China's law and the verdict of the SPC (Supreme People's Court)."

"The Philippines and China are determined to work together in the fight against transnational crimes. Including drug trafficking," the statement continued, thus leaving uncertain the fate of the 3 condemned Filipinos.

Source: Philippine Star, February 20, 2011
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