Philippines to continue appealing for Filipino on China’s death row—Palace

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang said on Sunday it respected China’s refusal to accept any visit from Vice President Jejomar Binay but stressed that it was not giving up in its bid to appeal for the life of a convicted Filipino drug trafficker set to be executed this week.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said she got an advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs last Saturday about the Chinese decision on Binay’s bid to meet with Beijing officials and save the life of the 35-year-old Filipino death convict.

“The DFA informed us that the Chinese side is unable to arrange the visit at this time,” Valte told state radio dzRB.

But Valte said this has not stopped the government from its bid to appeal for the Filipino death convict.

“We will continue to exhaust channels available for us so we can continue to push for our appeal,” she said.

The Supreme People’s Court in Beijing recently upheld the death penalty on the Filipino caught smuggling 1.5 kilograms of heroin at the airport in Gunagxi in September 2008. The drug convict, who had flown to China from Malaysia, is scheduled to be executed on December 8.