Plea letter of Pinoy drug mules' kin now with Chinese president

Hoping for a miracle, Philippine officials in China on Tuesday submitted to Chinese President Hu Jintao letters from the families of two of the three Filipino convicts there who will be executed on Wednesday. Philippine Embassy consul Noel Novicio said they coursed the letter from the families of Sally Villanueva and Ramon Credo through China's Foreign Affairs Ministry. “Dinala namin nang personal kahapon sa Foreign Ministry para ipaabot kay President Hu Jintao ang sulat ng Credo at Villanueva families kay Pangulong Hu Jintao ng China," Novicio said in an interview on dzBB radio. (We personally brought the letters of the Credo and Villanueva families to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The letters were addressed to President Hu Jintao.) He said the letters were aside from the daily representations made by the Embassy to ranking officials of China. Villanueva and Credo, as well as Elizabeth Batain, are schedule to be executed on Wednesday after they were sentenced to death for smuggling drugs to China in 2008.

Novicio said they also submitted to President Hu a copy of Villanueva’s affidavit where she named her recruiter as the source of the drugs she brought into China. The affidavit aims to show that Villanueva was used by a drug syndicate and does not deserve the death penalty. But Novicio said there will be no direct response expected from the Chinese president. “Ayon sa Foreign Ministry, makakarating sa pinakamataas na destination ang sulat. Pero sa kanilang practice di sumasagot nang diretso sa mga sulat si President Hu Jintao especially on death penalty cases," he said. (The Foreign Ministry assured us that the letters will reach the intended recipient. But the president does not directly reply to such letters especially if they involve death penalty cases.) Meanwhile, Novicio said the Embassy is ready to help repatriate the bodies of the three if the execution pushes through. He said the sentences of the three will be promulgated at 9:40 a.m. Wednesday (China time), and that will be the only time the three will know that they are to be executed. “Alam nila they were sentenced to death penalty, without reprieve, 2008 pa. Pero ang pinal na decision ng Supreme People’ Court bukas lang malalaman," he said. (The three are aware that they had been sentenced to death, without reprieve, since 2008. But it is only by Wednesday morning that they will know the final verdict.) Novicio said the families of Villanueva and Credo can get to see their loved ones at 8 a.m., before the promulgation. Batain can get to see her loved ones after the promulgation. When asked about the chances of a last-minute miracle, Novicio said, “Hindi [tayo] nawawalan ng pagasa (We are not losing hope)." – KBK, GMA News