VP Binay ignores calls to stop appealing cases of drug couriers

Published December 16, 2011 5:00pm

Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday ignored the calls made by two lawmakers for the Philippine government to stop appealing the cases of Filipino drug smugglers meted the death penalty abroad.

Binay said “no time or resource of the State” should be “wasted on appealing for a reprieve or a lighter judgment for overseas Filipino workers who are sentenced to death.” At a gathering of public lawyers, he explained that this policy is “always had been consistent with our Christian culture and Constitution.”

“We would be so much less of a government if we simply threw up our hands in the air, and said there is nothing more to be done,” he said.

“Our people would never understand if the government did nothing to help such a poor convict, even when help no longer seemed possible,” Binay said, He added that the Aquino administration’s “service to the law and to poor deserves our very best effort.” “There should be no distinction,” Binay said. “When you serve the law, you should simultaneously serve the poor. And there should be no limit to what you should be prepared to do to perform this service.”

Drug cases of Filipinos abroad The Department of Foreign Affairs said 576 Filipinos are facing death, serving time or being tried for drug-related cases in various countries, mostly in China. On December 8 this year, a Filipino was executed through lethal injection in China after being convicted of smuggling heroin into China. In March, three Filipinos were also sentenced to death for drug smuggling and were executed by lethal injection.

Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento earlier said the Philippine government should only extend legal assistance Filipinos who are still undergoing trial. However, once they are found guilty with finality, Sarmiento said the government should refrain from using public funds to make a court appeal.

Iloilo Rep. Jerry Trenas, on the other hand, said the government should focus on increasing cooperation with other countries. - VVP, GMA News

Tags: drugs, illegaldrugs, drugsmuggling