CHINA: 3 FILIPINOS' DEATH SENTENCE FINAL / 3 UNAWARE DATE IS SET FOR TODAY
MANILA, MARCH 30, 2011 (STAR) By Pia Lee-Brago [Photo is loading...Women hold a vigil in front of the Manila Cathedral in Manila to pray for the three Filipinos set to be executed in China today. EDD GUMBAN]
China confirmed last night that it would carry out today the execution of Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain for drug smuggling, ignoring a last minute plea for mercy by the Philippine government.
"The verdict is final by the Chinese judicial authorities in strict accordance with the Chinese law. We hope that the Philippine side could understand," Sun Yi, Chinese embassy spokesman, said.
"The Chinese side will provide all the necessary assistance to the relatives and Philippine consular officials for their visits to the convicted and other related matters," he said.
Earlier, officials said they were resigned to the fate of the three convicts.
"Not that I know of," said acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario when asked if there was word from Beijing on the Philippines' last minute plea for a stay of execution of Credo, Ordinario-Villanueva and Batain.
"I think we've tried everything that we can already and at some point I think we have to accept the fact that the sentence is a finality," Del Rosario told reporters.
He said President Aquino himself had written Chinese President Hu Jintao thrice, seeking reprieve for the three Filipinos. This was on top of Vice President Jejomar Binay's own initiative to convince Beijing to spare the three Filipinos from death.
"The President has written three times, there have been back-channeling and I'm afraid at this point in time there really isn't much left we can do," he said.
He said Philippine Ambassador to Beijing Francisco Benedicto has been busy making representations with the Chinese government.
"We obviously sympathize with them (families) and we'll be holding a Mass here (DFA) tomorrow (today)," Del Rosario added.
Villanueva, 32, was convicted for smuggling 4,110 grams of heroin on Dec. 24, 2008, and Credo, 42, four days later for smuggling a slightly bigger amount of heroin. Batain was sentenced to death on May 24 in the same year also for drug trafficking.
DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said the families of Credo and Ordinario-Villanueva have been allowed by the Fujian Provincial Higher People's Court to visit them today from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Xiamen No. 1 Detention House.
The Batain family will have the opportunity to visit her at 9:30 a.m. at the Shenzhen No. 3 Detention House. The exact time of execution was not revealed.
Malaya said the families of the three would not be allowed to witness the execution.
"No. Under Chinese law and regulation the carrying out of the sentence will be made in private," Malaya said.
"Officials of the Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen will be with the Credo and Ordinario families during their visit and during the promulgation of the sentences. Officials of the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou will likewise accompany the Batain family during their visitation," the DFA said in a statement.
'Keep on hoping'
But at Malacañang, spokesman Edwin Lacierda said, "We should keep on hoping" until the sentences are carried out.
"Hoping that similar to the last instance that happened before, when we felt that all hope was lost, China decided to postpone the execution. But we are still hoping within the realization that we are limited by what we can do. So we will leave it up to the Chinese authorities but, again, while the execution has not been carried out, we will still hope," Lacierda said.
China had originally set the execution of the three last Feb. 21 and 22 but decided to give them a reprieve following a visit from Binay.
Lacierda also disclosed that the President ordered Binay and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to look into cases of overseas Filipino workers involved in drug trafficking and find out how and why they managed to leave the country undetected by airport scanners.
Lacierda said the thrust right now was to establish greater coordination between China and the Philippines to prevent Filipino travelers from being used as drug mules.
"My understanding is that the 70-plus Filipinos in China who are on death row have had commutation of sentence. In other words, within two years of good behavior they will no longer be executed. This was discussed between the President, Vice President Binay and me after the Cabinet meeting last Monday," Lacierda said.
He said concerned agencies like the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration should make sure that OFWs are protected from drug syndicates.
Binay's tack
Binay, for his part, told Beijing that the three Filipinos, particularly Villanueva, should be spared from execution because they can help Chinese authorities track down and prosecute the leaders of big crime syndicates.
Binay told the Chinese president that Villanueva, based on her affidavit, named her recruiter Mapet Cortez or Tita Cacayan as the source of the illegal drugs she carried to China.
"In light of that testimony, which we believe is very material to the prosecution of Cortez (aka Cacayan), and our effort to break the back of the illegal drug traffic from the Philippines, I appeal to the Chinese government to help us keep Villanueva and the two others alive to enable us to establish beyond any reasonable doubt whether at least one or two or all three of them are mere unwitting couriers, while the real principals are still at large in the Philippines," Binay said.
In her sworn statement, Villanueva said Cortez recruited her for a job in Xiamen and provided her with an empty suitcase that she used for her travel to China. Cortez is in the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Villanueva claimed she was not aware that the suitcase contained heroin. She said Cortez "knowingly tricked" her into smuggling the illegal drugs.
"It is my fervent hope that Your Excellency will see in this appeal a sincere effort on our part, who hold the highest regard for China and its criminal justice system, to make sure that the truly guilty are punished and those who merely happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and are defrauded or forced to commit crime by the real criminals are given a second chance, according to your own policy of combining leniency with rigidity in the implementation of your criminal laws," Binay said.
"I am honored to write at this time, to reiterate, first of all, my profound gratitude to the People's Republic of China for its decision, on the occasion of my visit to Beijing on 18-19 February 2011, to stay the execution of Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain, who had been convicted of drug trafficking, and finally to appeal for the continued suspension of their execution, in light of the discovery by Philippine authorities of certain evidence which could help us break wide open the illegal drug traffic into China from the Philippines," Binay said.
"It is my further hope that our two governments and peoples would continue to work as closely together as possible in providing our region and the world the most humane expression of justice for all. Please accept, Excellency, renewed assurances of my highest consideration and esteem," Binay said.
"We're aware of the efforts undertaken by the Vice President and we're grateful to the Vice President for his continuing effort on behalf of our three nationals in China. And the DFA continues to work with the Vice President and our consulate officials on this matter," Malaya said.
But for some lawyers, Villanueva's sworn affidavit executed last March 26 before Philippine Vice Consul Ambrosio Brian Enciso III in Xiamen City, China had come too late.
"We cannot be sure what legal effect the affidavit may have although we remain hopeful it does," said Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao, a lawyer and province mate of Villanueva.
Former Justice secretary Silvestre Bello III said there was nothing in the affidavit that could justify a review of the case. "The affidavit should have been made before the final decision and when there was still enough time for the government to make an appeal," he said.
In Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, Regional Prosecutor Rommel Baligod said, "Experience has shown us that the Chinese government is unforgiving when it comes to drugs."
Acceptance, hope
Sen. Loren Legarda said the government should just respect the decision of China if it decides to continue with the executions today.
"It's their law," Legarda said.
"So we should not be a nation just pleading to other nations not to execute our nationals. Let's not deploy them (workers). Let's not allow them to be sold and to be trafficked," Legarda said.
She said the government should strengthen the country's anti-drug trafficking law and not just wait for another Filipino to be arrested and convicted abroad.
Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara said he does not expect Chinese leaders to "change their minds" and stop the executions.
"Let it be a lesson to us and Philippine leaders, a long overdue call to focus on job creation at home. This, after all, is the only possible explanation why many agree to be drug mules," Angara said.
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo said he believes the government has exhausted all diplomatic efforts in trying to save the Filipino drug mules.
"This is a stern warning to Filipinos trying to smuggle drugs abroad (on) the consequences they will face," Castelo said. "Officials involved should suffer the same fate."
"We can only do so much in terms of representing them in their legal case. But if our own authorities were being strict in our own borders, these people would not have reached foreign shores with their packages," Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said.
Deputy Speaker and Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III also said he believes the government has done enough to try to save the three Filipinos.
"But there is nothing wrong going the extra mile in trying to save them. If you want other countries to respect our laws and sovereignty, we should also respect their laws and sovereignty," Tañada said.
Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco said prayers can do wonders but the nation should also be prepared for the worst.
"The important thing is we learn from this and nothing of this sort happens again. Because if these things happen again, especially the use of gullible Filipinos as drug mules, then we would lose not only lives but respect," Haresco said.
"We are knocking on all doors. We are trying to storm heavens for a change in their fate of what will happen to them. We still don't know. I think the best weapon we can still think of, so far, is still prayers," said Fr. Edwin Corros, executive secretary of CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People.
"The Philippines does not ask the Chinese government to bend its laws on the issue, only appeals for the sake of friendship and humanitarian reasons," Francis Chua, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.
"PCCI joins the public sentiments in hope for possible change in the decision on the execution of the three workers on death row," he said.
"We have been reminding our Filipino workers against becoming drug couriers of international drug syndicates and the case of the three Filipinos should serve as warning to them," Labor department spokesman Nicon Fameronag said. - With Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, Jose Rodel Clapano, Mayen Jaymalin, Evelyn Macairan, Christina Mendez, Raymund Catindig, Charlie Lagasca
3 Pinoys unaware of scheduled executions tomorrow By Jun Pasaylo (The Philippine Star) Updated March 29, 2011 01:15 PM Comments (52) View comments
MANILA, Philippines – The three Filipinos convicted for drug trafficking in China are not aware that their executions have been set for tomorrow, a Philippine embassy official said today.
"Bukas pa lang nila malalaman na ang execution ay tuluy na tuloy na," Noel Novicio, consul of the Philippine post in Xiamen City, said in a radio interview today.
He said that the three Filipinos -- Ramon Credo, Elizabeth Batain and Sally Ordinario-Villanueva -- are only aware that their executions last February 20 and February 21 have been suspended by the Supreme People's Court of China.
They will only be informed that the death sentences will be carried out "only tomorrow," Novicio said.
He said that the promulgation of the executions of the three Filipino nationals will start 9:40 a.m. tomorrow.
"Di pa nila alam na ang sentence laban sa kanila ay pinagtibay na. Bukas pa lang nila malalaman," he said.
In a press conference, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Eduardo Malaya said that the three Filipinos will meet their families before the promulgation.
Malaya said that Credo and Villanueva will be with their families for at least an hour at the Xiamen detention house while Batain will meet her family at the Shenzhen detention house.
Enciso, meanwhile, said it was not sure whether the execution will be carried out right after the promulgation or a few hours after.
He said that embassy officials are now preparing for the last and final meeting between the three and their respective families tomorrow.
"Inaayos na natin ang kanilang pagkikita," he said.
Enciso, meanwhile, said that the Philippine government is exerting last ditch efforts to save the lives of the three Filipinos. "'Di po tayo tumitigil para mabigyan sila ng clemency."
He said that the Philippine embassy in China is already preparint for the repatriatio nof the remains of the three Filipinos in case the executions are carried out tomorrow.
Credo and Villanueva will be executed through lethal injection in Xiamen, while Batain will be in Shenzhen.
Last letter
Meantime, Vice President Jejomar Binay said in a radio interview that early today, he sent another letter to the Chinese embassy in an effort to save three Filipinos.
"I've sent another letter this morning to the Chinese embassy," Binay said.
He said that the Philippine government, through his office, will not stop pleading for the life of the three Filipinos up to the last minute before the execution.
Binay said that he reiterated in his letter the case of Villanueva, who has executed an affidavit insisting that she was tricked by a fellow Filipino into smuggling more than 4000 grams of heroin to China in December 24, 2008.
He said that the affidavit shows that Villanueva is just a victim and she does not deserve a death penalty.
Meanwhile, members of migrants group Migrante International continued prayer vigils in Metro Manila and other offices abroad for the three Filipinos.
The group has also scheduled more prayer vigils and protest actions on the day of the executions.
No final word from Beijing
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, meanwhile, denied earlier reports that the Chinese government had already rejected the final plea the Philippines for the clemency or the stay of execution of the three Filipino drug mules.
"Chinese embassy last night said that there is still no final word from Beijing. While the execution has not been carried out, we will still hope," he said.
Despite the limitation of the Philippine government, the Palace still hopes that China would postpone the execution of the three Filipinos.
Even with the pending executions, Lacierda said that the Philippine government is committed to working with Chinese authorities in curving drug trafficking.
"The thrust right now between China and the Philippines is to have greater coordination in terms of drug trafficking and that's important for us," he said.
"So 'yun po ang thrust ngayon to make sure that these things will not happen again. That we make sure that we stop altogether the drug trafficking between China and the Philippines," he added.
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