China mum on Phl appeal

MANILA, Philippines - China has remained silent on the government’s appeal for a permanent stay of execution of three Filipinos scheduled to die tomorrow for drug trafficking.

However, Chinese embassy spokesman Sun Yi told The STAR “I can’t say that,” when asked if China’s silence meant the Philippine request for clemency for Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain has been rejected.

“As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t received feedback from the capital,” Sun said.

The request of the Philippine government has been conveyed to the capital by the Chinese embassy and through diplomatic channels.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday a sworn statement of Villanueva was submitted to Chinese authorities, which could save her from execution tomorrow.

“I can’t comment on that,” Sun said, referring to the new sworn affidavit of Villanueva.

“The decision will be made by the capital. What we can do is wait for response.”

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jianchao said Chinese courts have taken humanitarian considerations of the sentence of the convicted drug traffickers in accordance with Chinese law.

“So I hope the Chinese laws will be respected by our Filipino friends,” he said.

“These drug traffickers, these criminals are not only victimizing the Chinese people. They’re also victimizing the Filipino people so this is a crime that must be punished in accordance with the law.”

Every effort has been made to appeal for clemency to save the three Filipinos, according to acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.

In a statement, the DFA said the Fujian People’s Court and Guangdong High People’s Court have informed the Philippine Consulates General in Xiamen and Guangzhou on the date when the death penalty on Credo, Batain and Villanueva would be carried out.

A senior DFA official said the execution of three Filipinos will not be done in public.

Binay: Recruiter used Sally

Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday the recruiter of Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, who is facing execution in China for drug trafficking, had used her as a drug courier.

The presidential adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) concerns said Villanueva’s affidavit at Xiamen showed one Mapet Cortez, aka Tita Cacayan, whom she met in Macau, offered her a job of carrying cell phones from China to be sold in the Philippines.

Villanueva does not deserve the death penalty since she is innocent, he added.

Binay said Villanueva, being jobless, accepted the offer and processed her documents with a travel agency.

“We hope and pray that her affidavit would be considered,” he said.

“We do not condone drug trafficking, but in Sally’s case, her recruiter clearly took advantage of her trusting nature.”

Binay said under Chinese law, the severest form of penalty is given to leaders of drug syndicates, and allows leniency for those in lower positions.

“This is the basis for our appeal to China,” she said.

“These drug syndicates took advantage of the economic difficulties of our kababayan.”

Binay said on Dec. 22, 2008, Cortez called Villanueva to tell her that her flight to China was ready.

Villanueva was to fly to Xiamen from Manila via China Southern Airlines flight CZ378 after two days, she added.

Binay said Cortez provided Villanueva with a seemingly empty silver-grey suitcase that for her travel.

Cortez also gave Villanueva $500 pocket money and the name and phone number of the person she needed to contact in China, he added.

Cortez told Villanueva she would earn P25,000 monthly if she would be able to get in touch with the contact person, Binay added.

Upon arrival in Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport, Chinese Customs agents arrested Villanueva after they discovered two bags of white powder weighing 4,110 grams stuffed inside the silver-grey suitcase from Cortez.

Villanueva was detained and later sentenced to death after Chinese authorities identified the white powder as heroin.

In her statement, Villanueva said she believed Cortez “knowingly tricked” her into carrying a suitcase with concealed heroin, and that she was only used as a courier to smuggle drugs from the Philippines to China.

Villanueva said that she believed Cortez is part of a bigger drug syndicate operating in the Philippines and other countries.

On Friday, Binay made a final appeal to Chinese President Hu Jin Tao to grant clemency to Villanueva, Elizabeth Batain, and Ramon Credo.

Binay cited humanitarian grounds and the strong friendship and cooperation between Philippines and China.

He also said Item No. 30 of Chapter 4 of the “Notice of the Supreme People’s Court on issuing Some Advice on Implementing the Criminal Policy of Combining Leniency with Rigidity” issued on Feb. 8, 2011 states that masterminds of smuggling, fraud and drug trafficking shall be “sentenced to severe penalties or death.”

However, those who were forced to join the crime organization or who played minor roles shall be given leniency or commutation if they meet the requirements.

Minute of silence for Sally

The Sangguniang Bayan of Echague, Isabela has offered a minute of silence prior to their regular session Monday to invoke the Lord’s intercession in the fate of Sally Villanueva and her fellow Filipinos condemned to death for drug trafficking in China.

Sally’s 12 year old daughter Princess Joy, the eldest of the brood of 2, has learned to accept the bitter truth and vowed to be a lawyer someday so she would have something people will look up to.

The young Villanueva is reportedly graduating from elementary this April 6.

Councilor Jesus Babaran, who moved for the solemn instance, told The STAR the Municipal Council could do nothing at the moment but pray for miracles.

He and fellow councilors could not do any more but extend financial help from their own pockets, he added.

Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao said he feels sorry being helpless to save Villanueva and her fellow condemned Filipinos from the lethal injection tomorrow.

He, however, offered to assist Villanueva’s family to shoulder the repatriation of Villanueva’s remains should the execution push through.

Echague Mayor Melinda Kiat said she has sought Villanueva’s relatives to offer possible assistance. However, she was informed that Villanueva was a resident of the adjacent Alicia town and not her town, she added.

Villanueva stayed for less than a month in a low-cost subdivision in her town prior to her arrest in Xiamen in 2008, Kiat said.

Sally’s neighbor Celia Sarghado said her husband Hilarion is a bus driver plying the Isabela-Cagayan route.

“We are extremely sad in the neighborhood about Sally’s fate, all we can do is to offer her our prayers,” she said.

Sargado refuted Kiat’s informants that Villanueva did not stay long in the remote Echague subdivision.

“The Villanuevas have been staying here since 2001,” she said.

Binay to Qatar, Saudi

Binay will leave for Qatar and Saudi Arabia today to discuss labor and economic issues with leaders of these two oil rich countries.

He will also look into the conditions of OFWs in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Binay said he is optimistic his visit would lead to stronger ties between the Philippines and the two countries and further advance the welfare of OFWs.

“It is to the best interest of the Philippines and the two countries to reach a common ground on issues affecting Filipino workers,” he said.

Binay will leave for Qatar today and will proceed to Saudi Arabia on April 1.

Binay said among the issues that he will discuss with Saudi officials is a recent decision to ban the deployment of domestic helpers to the kingdom.

“Our government is willing to dialog with the government of Saudi Arabia to discuss their concerns as well as our position on bilateral labor issues,” he said.

Binay said he will also extend the appreciation of the Philippine government for the royal pardon given in September last year by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz to Filipinos languishing in jails for overstaying and for minor offenses.

Binay hopes that a similar pardon may be issued this year.

“It is our hope that His Excellency will again show his benevolence so that our kababayan may be allowed to rejoin their families in the Philippines,” he said.

Binay has also instructed Philippine embassy officials to organize dialogs with Filipino groups.

He is also set to visit OFWs who have sought shelter at the Bahay Kalinga centers run by the Department of Labor and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

“President Aquino is deeply concerned about the welfare of our OFWs,” he said.

“During my visit to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, our OFWs raised several concerns and I have relayed all of them to the President and he has directed the concerned government agencies to act on these concerns. My visit to Saudi Arabia will not be complete without the chance to interact with our fellow Filipinos.”

Saudi Arabia is host to close to 1.8 million OFWs, while there are 280,000 Filipinos working in Qatar.

Iran reduces penalty of Filipino

An Iranian court has reduced the penalty of a Filipino convicted of drug trafficking from life imprisonment to 15 years in jail, the DFA said yesterday.

Citing a report from the Philippine embassy in Tehran, the DFA said Edmar Aquino was represented by legal counsel and embassy officials in court proceedings.

“The court considered the fact that Mr. Aquino did not distribute the drugs, he was a mere visitor in Iran, and he was young who may have been deceived,” the DFA said.

The DFA said the embassy will continue to make representations for the commutation of Aquino’s sentence.

Aquino, 26, was arrested in September 2009 in Shiraz Airport on his way out of Iran and was found to have in his possession 5 kilos of compressed heroin, which is punishable by the death penalty.

He denied having knowledge of the content of the bag and claimed that a Nigerian friend asked him to pick up the bag at Toos Hotel in Mashad to be brought to the Philippines.

Aquino was convicted by the court of Shiraz in Iran in December of the same year.

The court imposed on him a reduced penalty of 15 years in jail rather than life imprisonment. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Raymund Catindig, Charlie Lagasca