Binay to bring PNoy letter to China in bid to save 3 Pinoys

A letter signed by President Benigno Aquino III will be the main weapon of Vice President Jejomar Binay when he goes to China in a last-ditch bid to plead for the lives of three Filipinos facing execution for drug-related offenses. Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado said the letter is an appeal to Chinese authorities to defer the execution of the three, and commute their sentences to life imprisonment. "Dadalhin niya [VP Bianay] ang sulat na pinirmahan ng Pangulong Aquino na humihingi na ipagpaliban ang execution at ang death penalty i-commute sa life sentence," Salgado said in an interview on dzXL radio. According to Salgado, Binay already packed his bags Wednesday night, and had been waiting since Thursday morning for the go-signal from China’s foreign ministry for his mission. Salgado said Binay’s mission is mainly to negotiate, on humanitarian grounds, for the lives of the three Filipinos, even as the Philippine government fully respects the Chinese legal system that sentenced them to death. "The Philippine government respects China’s laws in the same way China respects our laws. The appeal is humanitarian in nature," Salgado said in Filipino.

Also, he said Binay will explain to Chinese authorities that the three Filipinos were never directly involved in drug trafficking or manufacture of illegal drugs, and that it was because of their poverty that they agreed to an offer of money, and were unwittingly used as drug mules. Meanwhile, Salgado said Binay will continue to remind overseas Filipino workers to respect the laws of their host countries. Salgado cited Binay's reminders to OFWs not to accommodate any request to carry luggage even if they know the person making the request, and not to be lured by easy money. Earlier, Binay noted that Aquino had written the Chinese government to appeal the case of the three Filipinos, and that Aquino personally mentioned the matter to Chinese President Hu Jintao when they met during last year’s ASEAN conference. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News