MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announces the execution of two Filipino nationals in China for drug trafficking offenses, as confirmed by the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou on Saturday.
In a statement released by the DFA, it said that they are withholding the identities of the two Filipinos as respect for the wishes of their families for privacy and has deferred announcing what they called “sad development” pending receipt from China of the formal notification of their execution.
In 2013, two Filipino nationals who were travelling from China to another country were apprehended at the same time in Guangdong for carrying methamphetamine with a combined weight of 11.87 kilograms.
According to reports, the said illegal substances were found in their individual luggage hidden in DVD machine players.
The two Filipinos were detained and underwent court trials until 2016, when they were sentenced to death for drug smuggling.
In 2017, their cases were appealed with the High People’s Court of the Chinese province that had jurisdiction over the case. In 2018, the same Chinese court upheld the verdict.
“From the time the two Filipinos were arrested in 2013, to their criminal trial, and on through their various appeals of the lower court’s judgment of conviction in 2016, the Department provided all possible assistance, including legal assistance funding, through the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou and the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs,” the DFA said in a statement.
“The Government of the Republic of the Philippines further exhausted all measures available to appeal to the relevant authorities of the People’s Republic of China to commute their sentences to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds. There were also high-level political representations in this regard,” DFA added.
According to the DFA, the repeated appeals were consistent with the laws and values of the nation, which put the highest premium on human life. In the end, the DFA said that the Chinese government upheld the conviction, citing their internal laws, and the Philippines must respect China’s criminal laws and legal processes.
“Our repeated appeals were consistent with the laws and values of our nation, which put the highest premium on human life. In the end, the Chinese government, citing their internal laws, upheld the conviction, and the Philippines must respect China’s criminal laws and legal processes,” the statement said.
The DFA also confirmed that the Government likewise provided every possible assistance to the families of the two Filipinos, including accompanying and assisting their families in their compassionate visit to Guangzhou, utilizing the Department’s Assistance to Nationals Fund.
As per data provided by the DFA, there are 92 Filipino death penalty cases in China. Out of the 92, all but one are drug related cases while two cases have been commuted to life imprisonment; 86 cases have been reduced to fixed term and initially 4 pending death penalty cases.
With the two recent executions, DFA confirms that there are 2 death penalty cases pending final review or on appeal.
While the DFA is saddened by the execution of the two Filipinos, their death strengthens the resolve of the Government to continue to rid the country of drug syndicates that “prey on the vulnerable, including those seeking better lives for themselves and their families”.
“The Department issues this urgent reminder to all Filipinos wishing to travel overseas to be vigilant of the modus operandi of drug syndicates in recruiting unwitting travelers as drug mules, and to refuse to carry any package that you have not personally packed and thoroughly inspected. While the Philippine government will continue to exhaust all possible avenues to assist our overseas nationals, ultimately it is the laws and sovereign decisions of foreign countries and not the Philippines which will prevail in these cases,” the DFA emphasized.
