Fate of Filipino convict is ‘final’

Vice President Jejomar Binay is “still awaiting word” from the Chinese Embassy regarding his planned trip to Beijing, according to Joey Salgado, his media officer. INQUIRER file photo

The Supreme People’s Court of China’s decision affirming the drug trafficking conviction and death sentence on a Filipino is “final,” according to the Chinese Embassy in Makati City and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Ethan Sun Yi, deputy chief of the embassy’s political section and mission spokesperson, on Thursday told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that “as far as I know, it is (final).”

DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the same thing. But he said, “Our government is appealing that the death penalty be commuted to life imprisonment for humanitarian reasons.”

Hernandez said on Wednesday that the execution of the 35-year-old man, whom he did not identify, had been scheduled for December 8, even as President Benigno Aquino III appealed to Chinese President Hu Jin Tao to commute the death sentence to life in prison.

The Filipino “should be in Guangxi (a province in southern China) where he was arrested in 2008,” according to Sun.

The Philippine national was arrested on Sept. 13, 2008, at the Guilin International Airport upon his arrival from Malaysia. Chinese airport authorities found nearly 1.5 kilos of heroin in his possession.

He was convicted of drug trafficking by the High People’s Court of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The conviction was affirmed by China’s highest court sometime in late November.

According to Hernandez, Mr. Aquino’s letter to his Chinese counterpart requested the commutation of the convict’s sentence to life imprisonment.

It was delivered by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao last Wednesday.

Del Rosario said DFA officials had met with the convict’s family, who requested that “his name and his origin not be released by the DFA under any circumstances.”

“I am afraid we have to respect their request,” said the DFA chief in a text message to the Inquirer.

Vice President Jejomar Binay is “still awaiting word” from the Chinese Embassy regarding his planned trip to Beijing, according to Joey Salgado, his media officer.

Binay’s office announced on Wednesday that he would be hand-carrying the President’s letter to Hu and that the DFA was making arrangements for his trip to the Chinese capital “at the earliest time possible.”

Last February, Binay made a similar trip to China where he obtained a postponement of the execution of three convicted drug mules—Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain.

However, the death sentence on the three was carried out about a month later.

According to Hernandez, Philippine diplomatic representatives in China had done everything they could and were still moving to have the Filipino’s sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

The country’s diplomatic posts in the north Asian country provided “all necessary and possible assistance” to the convict during his detention and trial, he noted.

Malacañang on Wednesday said it had “exhausted all legal efforts” to save the convicted Filipino.

Originally posted at 14:06 pm | Thursday, December 01, 2011