2 Filipinos executed in China for drug trafficking – DFA

Department of Foreign Affairs. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Two Filipinos were executed in China on November 24 for drug trafficking offenses, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced Saturday.

Out of respect for their privacy, the DFA withheld their identities and delayed the announcement until receiving formal notification of their execution from Chinese authorities.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs regrets to inform the nation that two Filipinos were executed in China on 24 November 2023 for drug trafficking offenses, as confirmed by the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou,” the DFA stated.

“We offer our most sincere condolences to their families and loved ones. We respect the wishes of their families for privacy, and as such are withholding the identities of the two Filipinos. The Department likewise deferred from immediately announcing this sad development pending receipt from the Chinese side of the formal notification of their execution,” it added.

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The DFA noted that the individuals were arrested in 2013 and convicted in 2016.

“The Government of the Republic of the Philippines exhausted all measures available to appeal to the relevant authorities of the People’s Republic of China to commute their sentences to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds. There were also high-level political representations in this regard,” the DFA said.

“Our repeated appeals were consistent with the laws and values of our nation, which put the highest premium on human life. In the end, the Chinese government, citing their internal laws, upheld the conviction, and the Philippines must respect China’s criminal laws and legal processes,” it continued.

The DFA also assisted the families of the two Filipinos and supported their compassionate visit to Guangzhou.

“The Department issues this urgent reminder to all Filipinos wishing to travel overseas to be vigilant of the modus operandi of drug syndicates in recruiting unwitting travelers as drug mules, and to refuse to carry any package that you have not personally packed and thoroughly inspected,” the agency said.

“While the Philippine government will continue to exhaust all possible avenues to assist our overseas nationals, ultimately it is the laws and sovereign decisions of foreign countries and not the Philippines which will prevail in these cases,” the DFA reminded.

Drug trafficking and drug-related cases merit severe punishment in communist China. Convicts are usually executed.

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