MANILA -- The Philippine government is willing to exert every possible effort to help the 66 Filipinos line up on death row in China for drug trafficking.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has already directed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to attend to the matter especially most of the convicts were women.
Reports said that of the 66 facing the death penalty, 53 of them are women. They were arrested trying to smuggle about 500 to 4,000 grams of heroin in China.
“We will do everything that we can. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has already been directed to attend to that case. We will do everything that is diplomatically and politically possible to help our people,” Remonde said.
He said knowing the compassion of President Arroyo to her fellowmen, the chief executive will go out her way to save every Filipino “if it is justified.”
Aside from the 66 on death row, 30 Filipinos have also been sentenced to life imprisonment while 44 others were sentenced to fixed 15-year prison term. There are also 55 cases of Filipinos still pending in Chinese courts on the same offense.
China is one of the countries, which is very serious in cracking down illegal narcotic drugs. (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)