DAMMAM: The execution of three Filipinos in China Wednesday who were convicted of drug smuggling has elicited diverse reactions from the Filipino community in the Kingdom. Despite appeals for clemency in the Philippines, including Vice President Jejomar Binay's last appeal for commutation of the sentence, the three Filipinos – two women and a man – were put to death by lethal injection. “The execution of our three compatriots in China is another lesson for Filipinos that drug trafficking or illicit use of prohibited substances has dire consequences; that despite our awareness of the unlawfulness of these acts, many continue these activities,” said Ven Macatuggal, president of the Filipino Overseas Workers Association (FOWA), an organization of overseas Filipino workers in the Eastern Province. Citing the same punishment for such illegal activities in the Kingdom, Macatuggal said the lesson learned is that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who may be engaged in the trafficking or use of drugs in this country should now put an end to such activities. Simeon P. Perez, president of the Ras Tanura Overseas Filipinos Association, said Filipinos, particularly OFWs, wherever they are, should respect the laws of the countries where they are working or visiting. “One of our former ambassadors here in the Kingdom said that it is the duty and responsibility of our government to help its citizens, particularly OFWs. This is good, but as OFWs or Filipino citizens visiting or working in a country that has its own rules and regulations, it is our duty to obey and respect those laws,” Perez said. “Those who violate the laws must be ready to suffer the consequences,” Perez added. “It is very sad that the executions happened, but at the same time I am at a loss as to why our airport authorities in the Philippines are unable to stop drug smuggling. Our government should truly be strict in combating drug trafficking, knowing that there are drug syndicates operating in the country,” said Chito Arcilla, vice president of the Overseas Filipino Workers Congress in the Eastern Province. “My heart goes to one of the women who vehemently said that she did not know what the contents of the bag entrusted to her to deliver were, but she had to face the judgment because she violated the law,” Arcilla said. Migrante-Middle East, the alliance of Filipino migrants' rights groups in the region, reacting to the execution of the three Filipinos, expressed the sad plight of many OFWs who are languishing in jail due to various crimes, including drug trafficking. “It is a sad, bitter reality confronting us as a nation, especially if we realize that there are more than 200 of them on death rows in various countries,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator. “We hope that our calls for the Aquino government to work hard to save the lives of other OFWs on death row will be met with seriousness,” Monterona said. “There are eight OFWs now on death row in Saudi Arabia, and we urge Vice President Binay, who is visiting Saudi Arabia on April 1, to plead with the host government to show mercy to these OFWs,” he said. Among the OFWs on death row are Don Lanuza, Rolando and Edison Gonzales, and Eduardo Arcilla. Migrante-Middle East has suggested the formation of a high-level inter-agency task force that would find ways for the commutation of death sentences and eventually spare OFWs from execution. Migrante-Middle East has called for an intensified campaign to be initiated by the government to prevent OFWs being victimized by international drug traffickers and syndicates.
