No final word yet on fate of 3 China OFWs

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Tuesday said they are still hoping that the Chinese government will commute the sentences of 3 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) set to be executed by lethal injection on March 30 (Wednesday).

According to Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, they have yet to receive any final word from China regarding the Philippines’ appeal on the 3 OFWs on death row.

"Apparently, the Chinese embassy last night said that there is still no final word from Beijing," Lacierda told reporters.

Lacierda said the government has not lost hope of a possible commutation.

"Tayo po ay umaasa pa rin. Hoping that similar to the last instance na nangyari na, when we felt that all hope was lost, nag-decide ang China na mag-postpone ang execution,” he said.

It can be recalled that China deferred the execution of Sally Ordinario Villanueva, Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain for humanitarian considerations after the visit of Vice President Jejomar Binay to China. The 3 were supposed to be executed last month.

“But we are still hoping within the realization that we are limited by what we can do. So we will leave it up to the Chinese authorities but, again, while the execution has not been carried out, we will still hope," said Lacierda.

Lacierda said the government is doing its best to stop OFWs from being used as drug couriers.

“The thrust right now between China and the Philippines is to have greater coordination in terms of drug trafficking and that's important for us. Looking forward, we need to make sure that there will be no similar incidents," Lacierda.

Malacañang said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) need to remind OFWs to shun drug traffickers.

"It's also a question of discernment and I think this should be emphasized by our agencies-POEA, OWWA-na 'wag hayaan ang mga Filipino OCWs na maging drug mules or gamitin bilang mga drug mules and I think this is being emphasized right now by these agencies po. Mayroon ganoong instructions po na ginawa ang Pangulo to make sure that hindi na maulit itong ganitong problema natin," Lacierda said.

Furthermore, he vowed that the government will go after recruiters involved in drug trafficking.

“Again, siguro may makakalusot but 'yung mga makakalusot, sigurado po tayo na hahabulin po natin ang mga recruiter nila. By the way, just to also tell the recruiters, do not use our OCWs as drug traffickers because we will go after you. It's one of the things that we are very concerned with right now. We are concerned about human trafficking, we are concerned about drug trafficking and this administration will not countenance these illegal activities," Lacierda said