Remains of Pinoys executed in China arrive in Manila - DFA

The cremated remains of the two Filipinos who were executed in China for drug trafficking have been turned over to their families in Manila, a senior Department of Foreign Affairs official said Saturday.

"Delivered on Friday to one family and on Saturday to another," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said in a text message to GMA News Online.

The two Filipinos, arrested in 2013 after they were caught with 11 kilos of shabu hidden in a DVD player, were executed on November 24, 2023.

They were convicted in 2016.

There are 92 Filipino death penalty cases in China. Of the 92, all but one are drug-related cases.

Out of the 92 cases, two were commuted to life imprisonment, 86 were reduced to a fixed term, and four were pending death penalty cases.

With these two executions, two death penalty cases remain pending final review or on appeal.

In 2011, three Filipinos—two females and one male—were executed for smuggling large quantities of prohibited drugs. Another Filipino was put to death nine months later for the same offense.

A Filipino woman was also executed for drug trafficking in China in 2013. —VBL, GMA Integrated News