Convicted OFWs’ kin still uneasy after China deferred executions

While expressing temporary relief over the postponement of the executions of their loved ones, relatives of three Filipinos on death row for smuggling illegal drugs into China admitted on Saturday they still remain uneasy. Sally Ordinario’s mother Edith said that while they [relatives of the three facing death] are thankful for the stay in the execution, they still hope their loved ones’ sentences will be eventually commuted. “Nagpapasalamat ako na ipinagpaliban ang pagbitay [pero] meron pa ring kaba, ‘di pa rin sigurado… baka matutuloy pa rin. Kaya hiling namin sa gobyerno na gagawin lahat para mapagaan ang kanilang mga sentensya," she said in an interview on dzBB radio. (While we are thankful, we are still uneasy. The executions were merely stayed, and there is no assurance their death sentences will be commuted. We ask the government to exert efforts to make sure their death sentences are commuted.) On the other hand, the Saturday flight to China of the convicts’ relatives was canceled. A report by radio dzBB’s Mao dela Cruz quoted Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Eduardo Malaya as saying the flight would not push through Saturday. Some 11 relatives of the convicts were scheduled to leave for Beijing at 7 a.m. Saturday, accompanied by two priests who were to bless the convicts. “The DFA informed us our flight will be canceled. We do not know when it will push through. We had been preparing for the flight," Mrs. Ordinario said in Filipino in an interview on dzRH radio. In the meantime, she reiterated her call to Tita Cacayan, her daughter’s supposed recruiter, to cooperate in an ongoing investigation and to stop denying her role in the drug trafficking case. She said Cacayan had duped her daughter into carrying a briefcase to Xiamen, which yielded four kilos of heroin upon inspection. Cacayan is now undergoing investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation but has denied the allegations. “Huwag siya mag-deny, sabihin niya ang totoo, makipagtulungan sa amin (She should stop denying. She should help us)," Mrs. Ordinario said. Last Feb. 11, China’s Supreme People’s Court affirmed the death sentences of Ordinario, 32; Ramon Credo, 42; and Elizabeth Batain, 38. On Friday night, a Philippine delegation led by Vice-President Jejomar Binay announced that the scheduled executions were stayed, after a meeting with Chinese officials. A DFA news release said Binay met with:

* Dai Bingguo, State Councillor; * Wang Shengjun, President of the Supreme People’s Court; and * Zhang Zhijun, Executive Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The two sides exchanged views on a wide range of issues concerning bilateral relations, including judicial cooperation. The two sides expressed the determination to work together and make joint efforts in further strengthening the relationship of strategic cooperation," the DFA said. Also, Chinese officials briefed Binay on the final verdict of the Supreme People’s Court on the three Filipinos sentenced to death for drug trafficking and the decision of the SPC to “postpone the execution within the scope of Chinese law." For its part, the Philippine side stated that it fully respects China’s law and the verdict of the SPC, and expressed its sincere appreciation to China for the decision. Calls for prayers The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI) joined mounting appeals for the Chinese government to commute the death sentences. “We hope and pray that our pleas be heeded by our Chinese brethren. We also urged our people to pray for the fate of these countrymen of ours," said ECMI chairman Bishop Precioso Cantillas, in an article posted Saturday on the CBCP news site. He also said the incident should be a wake-up call for the government to provide its citizens with “enough means of livelihood" so that many Filipinos will not seek work abroad or be led to accept jobs that illegal and dangerous, he added. “This also reminds both church and society that we need to take care too of our migrant workers and help them and guide them to be always good citizens abroad and be faithful to God," he said. — LBG, GMA News