China to free Pinoy convict

China has acceded to a Philippine request to free an ailing Filipino seaman just three and a half years into his 10-year prison sentence, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said yesterday.

Ople said Chinese Supreme Court vice president Jiang Xingchang agreed to free Rizalde Astrolabio, 40, "to underscore the good relations with the Philippines and as a humanitarian gesture."

Astrolabio will be freed on parole as soon as administrative procedures are completed, Ople said, although he could not give a specific date.

The Filipino seaman was convicted of stabbing a Chinese man to death in a fight at a karaoke bar in China in 1999.

His health worsened in prison and he is suffering from diabetes, hypertension and depression, prompting the Philippine embassy to seek his early release.

President Arroyo brought up Astrolabio’s case in her visit to China last year.

Last month, the Philippines released 122 Chinese fishermen who were caught poaching in the country’s waters. The 122 were freed after agreeing to plead guilty and pay a token fine.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jose Brillantes said the release of Filipinos in Chinese jails was to partly reciprocate the release of the 122 Chinese. – AFP, Aurea Calica