MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has directed Philippine ambassadors in the Middle East to exclude convicted Filipino drug dealers from prisoner exchanges.
“I won’t allow the pardon of convicted Filipino drug dealers in the Middle East. My orders to my ambassadors there is exclude drug dealers from prisoner exchanges,” Locsin said on Friday in a tweet.
Locsin added he will “let the law abroad destroy” them because “unlike in Indonesia, these dealers were not fooled.”
“I smell a local connection to the local drug trade. Sorry. No mercy,” he said in another tweet.
Recently, 95 Filipinos detained in the United Arab Emirates for various offenses were reportedly released in exchange for two Emiratis pardoned by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Department of Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete did not detail for which offenses the Filipinos had been held.
Perete said the two Emiratis were freed under a “prisoner swap” agreement.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III agreed with Locsin, saying it was likewise his position when he was chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board.
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