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DFA: Number of Filipinos on death row in China 'not significant'


A day after the executions of three Filipinos in China on drug charges, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said "there are no significant number of Filipinos on death row" in that country. In a statement issued on Thursday, the DFA said there were originally six death penalty convictions, without reprieves, which reached the Supreme People’s Court of China in Beijing. Three of these convictions were affirmed by China’s highest court — those of Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, and Elizabeth Batain, who were executed on Wednesday before noon (Manila time). Two of the six convictions were lowered by the high court from death penalty (without reprieve) to death penalty with a two-year reprieve, the DFA said. The equivalent of death penalty with two-year reprieve in Philippine law is automatic commutation to life imprisonment, provided that the concerned individuals conduct themselves with good behavior within the two-year period, the DFA statement said. "With five criminal convictions resolved, only one case, which also concerns trafficking of illegal drugs, remains pending review before China’s highest court," the DFA said. Representations for clemency The DFA said the Philippine Consulate concerned has been assisting the Filipino involved in this case. "High level representations for clemency on his behalf have also been made by Philippine officials at various levels and on numerous occasions," the DFA said. "Earlier, 73 Filipinos facing drug trafficking charges in China were saved from death row when they were meted death penalties with two-year reprieves, which in Philippine legal parlance is equivalent to life imprisonment," the DFA added. – VVP, GMA News

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