Inihayag ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) na ipinatupad na ng China ang parusang kamatayan laban sa dalawang Pinoy na nahuling nagdala umano ng ilegal na droga sa nasabing bansa noong 2013.

Sa inilabas na pahayag ng DFA, sinabing ipinatupad ang parusang kamatayan laban sa dalawang Pinoy noong November 24, 2023, na kinumpirma ng Philippine Consulate General sa Guangzhou, China.

“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,” ayon sa DFA.

“The Department likewise, deferred from immediately announcing this sad development pending receipt from the Chinese side of the formal notification of their execution,” dagdag nito.

Ayon sa DFA, unang naaresto ang dalawang Pinoy noong 2013 matapos umanong magpuslit sa China ng 11 kilo ng shabu na itinago sa DVD player.

Nahatulan sila ng parusang kamatayan noong 2016.

Ayon sa DFA, sinamahan nila kamakailan ang mga kaanak ng dalawang Pinoy na nagtungo sa China para sa tinatawag na "compassionate visit."

Ibinigay umano ng DFA ang lahat ng legal na tulong sa dalawa sa pamamagitan ng Philippine Consulate General sa Guangzhou at Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs hanggang sa lumabas ang hatol ng korte.

“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. There were also high-level political representations in this regard,” ayon sa DFA.

“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,” dagdag pa nito.

Mayroon umanong 92 Pinoy na nahaharap sa mga kaso na kamatayan ang parusa. Sa nasabing bilang, dalawa ang naibaba sa life imprisonment; 86 kaso ang naibaba sa fixed term, dalawa ang nakabinbin, at dalawa ang ipinatupad na ang hatol.

Muling nagpaalala ang DFA sa mga bumibiyahe sa ibang bansa na maging alisto laban sa mga drug syndicate.

"Be vigilant against drug syndicates that recruit unwitting travelers as drug mules, and to refuse to carry any package that you have not personally packed and thoroughly inspected,” ayon sa DFA.

“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,” dagdag nito. --FRJ, GMA Integrated News