DFA: Drug mules in China, kin may meet on March 30 execution day

The three Filipinos who are scheduled to be executed in China on March 30 for drug trafficking will have a last chance to meet their families before their death sentences are carried out, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday. DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said the promulgation of the sentences of Sally Villanueva, Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain will be held early Wednesday. “Ang araw na tinakda para sa carrying out of the sentence ay sa 30. Ang abiso sa akin ay magkakaroon sa umaga sa 30 ng promulgation ng sentence. Tapos ng promulgation ng sentence magkakaroon ng pagkakataon para sa kaanak makita ang mahal sa buhay," he said in an interview on dzRH radio. (Based on the advice we got, the sentence will be carried out early Wednesday. Once the sentences are promulgated, the three Filipinos will have a chance to meet with their loved ones for the last time.) He also said the kin of the three will have the option to have the remains of their loved ones repatriated to the Philippines, or cremated. Malaya indicated the procedure for repatriating the remains of the three may take at least two weeks. “Usually at least two weeks yan, baka tumagal pa. Meron ding mga kababayan tayo na instead na papauwi ang labi papa-cremate na lamang. Yung maaring mangyari sa kababayan sa China, either i-repatriate ang remains o ipa-cremate ang remains," he said. (Repatriating the remains to the Philippines may take at least two weeks. But other Filipinos have opted to have the remains cremated instead. Those are the options of the three drug mules’ kin.) On Sunday, the kin of two of the doomed drug mules – Ordinario and Credo – arrived in Beijing, while Batain’s relatives are scheduled to arrive there Monday. Earlier reports said Ordinario’s kin carried with them a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao seeking a last-minute reprieve. Meanwhile, Malaya said any change of heart by the Chinese government at the last minute will be coursed through the Philippine Embassy in Beijing. “Kung may nagpapalit ng isip o announcement na bibigay ang China, palagay ko (idadaan) yan sa ating embahada sa Beijing, yan ang pinakamabilis na paraan para mapahayag anumang announcement dito," he said. (If China will announce a last-minute change of heart, it will likely do so through our embassy in Beijing. That is the speediest way.) – VVP, GMA News