MANILA, Philippines— It’s final. That’s what spokesmen for both the Chinese embassy and the Department of Foreign Affairs said of the decision of the Supreme People’s Court of China affirming the drug trafficking conviction and death sentence of a Filipino scheduled for execution next week.
Ethan Sun Yi, deputy chief of the embassy’s political section and mission spokesperson, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Thursday that “as far as I know, it is [final].”
DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said exactly the same thing, but added that “our government is appealing that the death penalty be commuted to life imprisonment for humanitarian reasons.”
On Wednesday, Hernandez said the execution of the 35-year-old man, whom he did not identify, had been scheduled for December 8, even as President Benigno Aquino III has appealed to Chinese President Hu Jintao to commute the death sentence.
The condemned man “should be in Guangxi [province] where he was arrested in 2008,” according to Sun.
The Filipino was arrested on Sept. 13, 2008 at the Guilin International Airport upon arrival from Malaysia. Chinese airport authorities found nearly 1.5 kilos of heroin in his possession.
He was later convicted by the High People’s Court of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a decision that was affirmed by China’s highest court in late November.
According to Hernandez, Aquino’s letter to his Chinese counterpart requested the commutation of the death penalty to life imprisonment. It was delivered by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao last Wednesday.
Del Rosario said DFA officials had met with the convict’s family, who requested that “his name and his origin not to be released by the DFA under any circumstances.”
“I am afraid we have to respect their request,” said the DFA chief in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Meanwhile, Vice President Jejomar Binay is “still awaiting word” from the Chinese embassy regarding his planned trip to Beijing, said Joey Salgado, his media officer.
Binay’s office announced on Wednesday that he would be carrying the President’s letter to Hu and that the DFA was making arrangements for his trip to the Chinese capital “at the earliest time possible.”
Last February, Binay made a similar trip to China where he obtained a month-long stay of execution of three convicted drug mules — Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain.
Ethan Sun Yi, deputy chief of the embassy’s political section and mission spokesperson, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Thursday that “as far as I know, it is [final].”
DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said exactly the same thing, but added that “our government is appealing that the death penalty be commuted to life imprisonment for humanitarian reasons.”
On Wednesday, Hernandez said the execution of the 35-year-old man, whom he did not identify, had been scheduled for December 8, even as President Benigno Aquino III has appealed to Chinese President Hu Jintao to commute the death sentence.
The condemned man “should be in Guangxi [province] where he was arrested in 2008,” according to Sun.
The Filipino was arrested on Sept. 13, 2008 at the Guilin International Airport upon arrival from Malaysia. Chinese airport authorities found nearly 1.5 kilos of heroin in his possession.
He was later convicted by the High People’s Court of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a decision that was affirmed by China’s highest court in late November.
According to Hernandez, Aquino’s letter to his Chinese counterpart requested the commutation of the death penalty to life imprisonment. It was delivered by Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao last Wednesday.
Del Rosario said DFA officials had met with the convict’s family, who requested that “his name and his origin not to be released by the DFA under any circumstances.”
“I am afraid we have to respect their request,” said the DFA chief in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Meanwhile, Vice President Jejomar Binay is “still awaiting word” from the Chinese embassy regarding his planned trip to Beijing, said Joey Salgado, his media officer.
Binay’s office announced on Wednesday that he would be carrying the President’s letter to Hu and that the DFA was making arrangements for his trip to the Chinese capital “at the earliest time possible.”
Last February, Binay made a similar trip to China where he obtained a month-long stay of execution of three convicted drug mules — Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain.
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