China executed 2 Filipinos for drug trafficking despite the huge appeal - Philippine authorities say

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In spite of the Philippine government's huge appeal to China to reduce the death sentences of two Filipinos for drug trafficking to life imprisonment, it has finally executed them, the Philippine government said on Saturday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila did not identify the two Filipinos, citing the wishes of their families for privacy. It added that it did not announce the Nov. 24 executions until the Philippine government was formally notified by China.

No other details were immediately given by Chinese or Philippine authorities about the executions and the drug trafficking cases.

The DFA said that from the time the two Filipinos were arrested in 2013 until their 2016 convictions by a lower Chinese court, it provided all possible help, including funding for their legal defence.

The government of the Republic of the Philippines further 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,” the DFA said. “There were also high-level political representations in this regard.

"The Chinese government, citing their internal laws, upheld the conviction and the Philippines must respect China’s criminal laws and legal processes,” the DFA 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 executions came at a difficult point in the relations between China and the Philippines due to escalating territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The Philippines, through the DFA, has filed more than 100 diplomatic protests over aggressive actions by China in the disputed waters since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took power in June last year.

The DFA said that while it was saddened by the executions of the Filipinos, their deaths strengthened “the government’s resolve to continue our relentless efforts to rid the country of drug syndicates that prey on the vulnerable, including those seeking better lives for themselves and their families."

It renewed a reminder to Filipinos travelling abroad to be vigilant against drug syndicates, which recruit travellers to serve as “drug mules” or couriers and to refuse to carry any uninspected package from other people.

Two other death penalty cases involving Filipinos are on appeal and under final review in China, DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza said, without elaborating.

One other Filipino, Mary Jane Veloso, is facing execution in Indonesia after being convicted of drug trafficking. Marcos has said that he has appealed for a commutation of her death sentence or a pardon but it remains to be seen whether that will be granted.

The Philippines is a major global source of labor and Filipino officials have been particularly concerned over the vulnerability of poor Filipinos to being exploited by drug syndicates.

菲律賓當局稱，儘管呼籲巨大，中國還是處決了兩名販毒菲律賓人

菲律賓政府週六表示，儘管菲律賓政府大力呼籲中國將兩名菲律賓人因販毒而判處的死刑減為無期徒刑，但中國最終還是執行了他們。

馬尼拉外交部沒有透露這兩名菲律賓人的身份，理由是他們的家人希望保護隱私。 它補充說，直到中國正式通知菲律賓政府後，它才宣布11月24日的處決。

中國或菲律賓當局沒有立即提供處決和販毒案件的其他細節。

外交部表示，從這兩名菲律賓人於2013年被捕到2016年被中國下級法院定罪，外交部提供了一切可能的幫助，包括為他們的法律辯護提供資金。

菲律賓共和國政府進一步用盡一切可用措施，呼籲中華人民共和國有關當局基於人道主義理由將他們的刑期減為無期徒刑。”

「在這方面也有高層政治代表。

外交部表示：“中國政府援引其國內法維持了原判，菲律賓必須尊重中國的刑法和法律程序。”

“雖然菲律賓政府將繼續用盡一切可能的途徑來協助我們的海外國民，但最終，在這些情況下，將由外國的法律和主權決定來決定，而不是菲律賓。”

由於南海領土爭議不斷升級，這次處決正值中菲關係陷入困境。 自從小費迪南德·馬科斯總統去年 6 月上台以來，菲律賓已透過外交部對中國在爭議海域的侵略行為提出了 100 多次外交抗議。

外交部表示，雖然對菲律賓人被處決感到悲痛，但他們的死亡增強了「政府繼續不懈努力，消滅該國毒品集團的決心，這些集團以弱勢群體為目標，包括那些為自己及其家人尋求更好生活的人」 」。

它再次提醒出國旅行的菲律賓人要警惕販毒集團，這些集團招募旅客充當「毒騾」或快遞員，並拒絕攜帶其他人提供的任何未經檢查的包裹。

外交部發言人特雷西塔·達札表示，另外兩起涉及菲律賓人的死刑案件正在中國進行上訴和最終審查，但沒有詳細說明。

另一位菲律賓人瑪麗·簡·維羅索 (Mary Jane Veloso) 在被判犯有販毒罪後，在印尼面臨處決。 馬可斯表示，他已呼籲減刑或赦免她的死刑，但是否會獲得批准還有待觀察。

菲律賓是全球主要的勞動力來源國，菲律賓官員特別擔心貧窮的菲律賓人容易受到販毒集團的剝削。