MANILA: The Philippine government Wednesday said it is making last-ditch efforts to prevent the imminent execution by lethal injection of three Filipino drug convicts, two of them women, in China. Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has already sent a letter to the Chinese government pleading for the commutation of the death sentences to life imprisonment, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement. Likewise, Philippine embassy officials are making last-minute negotiations with Chinese authorities in Beijing to stop the scheduled executions on February 21 and 22 in two Chinese cities, citing “humanitarian considerations.” However, the Chinese embassy in Manila ruled out the possibility of even a postponement of the scheduled execution, saying the death sentences on the three Filipinos have been sustained by the Supreme People's Court, the highest judicial authority in China, following a review of the Filipinos' cases. “The death sentence on the three Filipino drug traffickers is the final verdict by the Chinese judicial authorities in accordance with law,” the embassy said. Five Filipinos were actually handed the death sentence by the lower courts in the Chinese provinces of Fujian and Guangdong also on drug trafficking charges, but two of them were given two-year reprieves.
