Chinese court spares Filipino from execution

KIDAPAWAN CITY—A Chinese court has commuted the death sentence of a Filipino convicted of drug smuggling in 2008, North Cotabato Representative Nancy Catamco said here Thursday.

Richard Bianan, of Tulunan, North Cotabato, will instead be serving life imprisonment with a two-year reprieve after the Fujian Provincial Higher People’s Court downgraded his sentence for his good behavior and performance.

The commutation was confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila in a text message by its spokesperson, Raul Hernandez.

Bianan has been imprisoned in Fujian since 2008 following his sentencing by the provincial court there for bringing in one kilo of heroin to China. Chinese authorities had forcibly extracted 91 capsules filled with heroin from his stomach in July that year.

In its verdict, the Fujian court had said it had no reason to doubt that Bianan should be put to death for his offense. But it downgraded the penalty based on the recommendation of the Fujian Provincial Jail Administration Bureau, Catamco said.

She said the Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen, China, also reported receiving a note verbale from the Fujian court that confirmed the commutation of Bianan’s sentence.

Catamco did not say when the decision was made but added that she was informed by Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. that it was in accordance with Article 50 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China.

“The law mandates that anyone who is sentenced to death with suspension of execution and does not commit intentional crime during the period of suspension, shall receive a commutation of sentence,” she said.

The lawmaker said the foreign office would continue to monitor Bianan’s condition while in prison. With a report from Tina G. Santos in Manila