Binay: I’ll continue to plead for OFWs’ lives

MANILA, Philippines—Vice President Jejomar Binay has vowed to continue seeking reprieves for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) facing the death penalty in other countries.

Binay made the statement after two lawmakers urged the government to stop trying to save convicted drug mules from execution abroad and spend the taxpayers’ money on more worthy causes instead.

Binay said that no time or resource of the state were ever wasted on appealing for a reprieve or lighter sentence on OFWs who were condemned to death.

Not quitting

“Our people would never understand if the government did nothing to help such a poor convict, even when help no longer seems possible,” Binay said in a speech at the closing ceremony of the 4th Mandatory Continuing Legal Education convention for public attorneys recently.

“We would be so much less of a government if we simply threw our hands in the air and said there was nothing more to be done,” he added.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, 576 OFWs are facing death sentences, serving time or being tried for drug-related offenses.

“There was never any question of our not respecting the laws or court decisions of China, or of our relations being adversely affected by China carrying out its death sentence,” he said.

Consistent with culture

“My efforts to seek a stay of execution and a possible commutation of sentence from death to life imprisonment was, and always had been, consistent with our Christian culture and Constitution,” Binay said.

Earlier, Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento said that while it was reasonable to expect the government to help a Filipino suspected of crimes abroad during the trial stage, it should stop interceding once he or she had been convicted.

“Once they are found guilty beyond reasonable doubt, the government should stop interceding in their behalf at the expense of law-abiding Filipino taxpayers,” said Sarmiento.

Iloilo Rep. Jerry Treñas, chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said the convicts do not deserve public compassion as they willingly chose to do what they did because they were “lazy” and wanted to get rich quickly.

He said Binay typified the government’s propensity to go all-out in trying to save Filipino drug mules from the ultimate penalty.

On Dec. 8, a Filipino was executed through lethal injection in China after being convicted of smuggling heroin into that country.

Binay hand-carried to the Chinese Embassy in Manila a personal letter from President Aquino to China President Hu Jin Tao, asking for clemency for the condemned Filipino for humanitarian reasons.

Politely refused

The Vice President had earlier requested a visit to Beijing to deliver the letter, but it was politely refused by the Chinese government.

In February, Binay went to China on instructions of Aquino to appeal for a stay in the execution of three Filipinos. But the appeal was not granted. Chinese authorities executed the three Filipinos by lethal injection the following month.