Dec. 3
CHINA/PHILIPPINES:
'Mercy mission' rejectedChina says Filipino's execution to push through Dec. 8
China has refused a visit from Vice President Jejomar C. Binay to ask for mercy
for a Filipino on death row, and said the man's execution will not be delayed,
the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday.
On Sunday, all Masses in Catholic Churches will be offered for the intention of
saving the convicted Filipino drug trafficker in response to Binay’s request to
the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). CBCP president Cebu
Archbishop Jose Palma instructed all dioceses to offer Masses to ask for divine
intervention for the commutation of the execution.
The 35-year-old is scheduled to be executed on December 8 after he was caught
on Sept. 13, 2008 at the Guilin International Airport in Guangxi, China, trying
to smuggle about 1.495 kilos (about 3 pounds, 5 ounces) of heroin into China
from Malaysia.
“The Chinese government has informed the Philippine government that the verdict
of the Supreme People’s Court of China is final and executory,” DFA spokesman
Raul Hernandez said.
China added that it will do everything to assist the family of the convicted
Filipino, whose identity and origin have been kept from media by both the DFA
and Office of the Vice President.
Hernandez said the DFA is making arrangements to fly relatives of the condemned
Filipino to China so they would be able to see their loved one.
“We have also been informed that the Chinese side is unable to arrange the
visit of Vice President Binay to China at this time,” Hernandez said.
Binay, Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFW) Concerns, had
been awaiting a go-signal from Beijing to push through with the visit, which is
tantamount to a last-ditch effort to at least delay the scheduled execution.
Despite this becoming a major blow to the Filipino convict’s family, the DFA
expressed hope that the Vice President would still be allowed by Chinese
authorities to go to Beijing.
Once there, the Binay will personally hand to Chinese President Hu Jintao a
letter of appeal from President Benigno S. Aquino III requesting a commutation
of the death sentence “based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds”.
Binay was in a similar situation last February when he reportedly met with
three high-ranking officials in Beijing to ask for a stay of the executions of
convicted Filipino drug traffickers Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva,
and Elizabeth Batain. They were eventually executed after a brief stay.
The executions triggered widespread condemnation in the Philippines, where
capital punishment was abolished in 2006.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is now hunting down
the Filipino who recruited the doomed Filipino.
PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez Jr. said that they have already identified
the recruiter.
(source: Manila Bulletin)
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