No China ruling yet on 5 Pinoys on death row

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday the People’s Supreme Court of China has not handed down a decision on the five death penalty cases for drug trafficking involving Filipinos.

The statement was issued in reaction to a report that China’s Supreme Court has affirmed with finality the death sentence on three Filipinos who were convicted of drug trafficking.

DFA spokesperson Eduardo Malaya said Chinese officials told the Philippine embassy in Beijing yesterday that there are no new developments on the five cases, including two that no longer need to be reviewed.

“To the embassy’s knowledge, the Supreme People’s Court has not handed down any decision on any of the five death penalty cases involving Filipinos that it is reviewing,” Malaya said.

In a radio interview last Sept. 2, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. said the decision on the cases of two Filipinos sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling is final and should not be linked to the backlash against the Philippines for the death of eight Hong Kong nationals in a hostage taking in Manila in August.

Conejos said the Philippines will continue to conduct high-level intercession to save those who are on death row.

Sources at the Philippine embassy in Beijing said on Tuesday that the three Filipinos whose identities were withheld could still escape execution if they identify the members of the drug syndicate that recruited them.

Sources said one Filipino also sentenced to death for drug smuggling had provided information about the syndicate but Chinese authorities said the statement was not enough.

Meantime, sources at the DFA said a letter from President Aquino was being finalized to appeal the sentence of the five Filipinos.

The letter was supposed to be hand carried by Vice President and presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) Jejomar Binay had the Philippine delegation that would submit the incident investigation and review committee (IIRC) report to China regarding the Aug. 23 hostage drama pushed through.

The DFA earlier said 112 OFWs are facing the death penalty, mostly drug-related cases, in China.

According to the DFA, 76 Filipinos in China were convicted and sentenced to death for drug trafficking.

In a related development, Sen. Pia Caye-tano has called for an inquiry that will look into the various laws and programs aimed at protecting OFWs from abuses.

In filing Senate Resolution 282, Cayetano expressed alarm over the rise in cases of Filipinos, especially women, being used as drug mules by international drug syndicates. – With Marvin Sy