2 Pinoys executed in China for drug trafficking

MANILA, Philippines — Two Filipinos convicted for drug trafficking have been executed in China, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The DFA did not name the two Filipinos in its statement yesterday on the execution, which happened on Nov. 24.

The execution was confirmed to the DFA by the Philippine consulate general in Guangzhou.

“We offer our most sincere condolences to their families and loved ones. We respect the wishes of their families for privacy, and as such are withholding the identities of the two Filipinos,” the DFA said.

The two Filipinos were arrested in Guangdong in 2013 for carrying a luggage with 11.872 kilograms of shabu hidden in DVD players, according to DFA.

They underwent trial for drug trafficking and appealed their 2016 conviction with the assistance of the DFA.

Their death penalty sentence was upheld in 2018.

The DFA said the Philippine government exhausted all measures to appeal to China to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment on “humanitarian grounds,” adding that there were also “high-level political representations in this regard.”

“Our repeated appeals were consistent with the laws and values of our nation, which put the highest premium on human life,” the DFA said.

“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,” it added.

The department urged Filipinos not to fall prey to syndicates when traveling abroad and to be vigilant of the “modus operandi of drug syndicates in recruiting unwitting travellers as drug mules.”

Filipinos are also urged to “refuse to carry any package that you have not personally packed and thoroughly inspected,” the DFA added.

“While we at the Department are saddened by the execution of the two Filipinos, their death strengthens the government’s resolve to continue our relentless efforts to rid the country of drug syndicates that prey on the vulnerable, including those seeking better lives for themselves and their families,” the DFA said.

According to the DFA, there were 92 Filipino death penalty cases in China, 91 of which are drug-related.

Of the 92 cases, two have been commuted to life imprisonment and 86 reduced to fixed term.

With the two executions, there are two remaining death penalty cases that are pending review or on appeal, the DFA added.