MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is hoping that the cremains of the two Filipino nationals executed in China will be repatriated by the end of this week.
In a message to the media, DFA Spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said that the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou is working on the repatriation of the cremains of the two Filipinos.
Earlier, DFA announced the execution of Filipino nationals in China for drug trafficking offenses, as confirmed by the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou.
In 2013, two Filipino nationals who were traveling 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 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 to 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.
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”.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines released a statement saying that the Chinese judiciary treats criminals of different nationalities equally and deals with them in a fair manner and in strict accordance with the law.
“During the trial of this case, the Chinese side fully guaranteed the various procedural and litigation rights of the two Filipinos in accordance with the law, and provided the necessary facilities for the consular officials of the Philippine side to perform their duties and for the families of the two persons to visit them in China,” the statement said.
