Filipino traffickers put to death
Source: Agencies |
March 31, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THREE Filipino drug traffickers were executed yesterday. The two women and a man were caught smuggling several kilograms of heroin each into China in 2008.
Under Chinese law, the trafficking of 50 grams or more of any illicit drug carries the death penalty.
Elizabeth Batain, 38, was executed by lethal injection at a prison in the southern city of Shenzhen. Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, 32, and Ramon Credo, 42, were executed in the port city of Xiamen.
The three were told yesterday morning that their sentences were to be carried out, Philippine officials said, and they were allowed visits by family members.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the recruiter of Ordinario-Villanueva, who said she did not know she was carrying drugs, had been identified and charges were being pursued.
"The three of them were convicted for drug trafficking, but perhaps they can also be considered victims - victims of unscrupulous recruiters and drug traffickers, and victims of a society that could not provide for them enough gainful employment in their home country," Aquino said in a statement.
Around 10 million Filipinos, about a 10th of the population, work overseas, and the billions of dollars they send home each year is a valuable support for the nation's economy.
The three were the first Filipinos to be executed in China for drug trafficking, Philippine officials said. Around 200 more Filipinos are in Chinese jails for drug offences, they said.
The families of two of the prisoners had sent open letters appealing for clemency, arguing they had been set up by drug syndicates, and a group representing overseas Filipinos said it may be harder to get clemency in other cases.
"We're afraid for our fellow countrymen overseas with similar cases, because governments around the world may no longer listen to our pleas," said Garry Martinez, of Migrante International.
China's Foreign Ministry said that drug trafficking was a serious offence and that justice had been served.
"This is an isolated criminal case. I do not want it to affect bilateral relations," said spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a news briefing on Tuesday, a sentiment Aquino echoed yesterday.
Under Chinese law, the trafficking of 50 grams or more of any illicit drug carries the death penalty.
Elizabeth Batain, 38, was executed by lethal injection at a prison in the southern city of Shenzhen. Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, 32, and Ramon Credo, 42, were executed in the port city of Xiamen.
The three were told yesterday morning that their sentences were to be carried out, Philippine officials said, and they were allowed visits by family members.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino said the recruiter of Ordinario-Villanueva, who said she did not know she was carrying drugs, had been identified and charges were being pursued.
"The three of them were convicted for drug trafficking, but perhaps they can also be considered victims - victims of unscrupulous recruiters and drug traffickers, and victims of a society that could not provide for them enough gainful employment in their home country," Aquino said in a statement.
Around 10 million Filipinos, about a 10th of the population, work overseas, and the billions of dollars they send home each year is a valuable support for the nation's economy.
The three were the first Filipinos to be executed in China for drug trafficking, Philippine officials said. Around 200 more Filipinos are in Chinese jails for drug offences, they said.
The families of two of the prisoners had sent open letters appealing for clemency, arguing they had been set up by drug syndicates, and a group representing overseas Filipinos said it may be harder to get clemency in other cases.
"We're afraid for our fellow countrymen overseas with similar cases, because governments around the world may no longer listen to our pleas," said Garry Martinez, of Migrante International.
China's Foreign Ministry said that drug trafficking was a serious offence and that justice had been served.
"This is an isolated criminal case. I do not want it to affect bilateral relations," said spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a news briefing on Tuesday, a sentiment Aquino echoed yesterday.
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