Aquino to appeal for 3 Pinoys facing death penalty in China
President Benigno S. Aquino III said on Wednesday he would make a last ditch effort to save the lives of three Filipinos facing the death penalty for drug trafficking in China.
In an interview following a command conference he presided over with officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo this morning, the President said he would speak with Chinese President Hu Jintao to appeal that the death penalty for the three be commuted to life sentences.
The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier said that the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) in Beijing had upheld the lower courts’ decisions meting out the death sentences on three Filipinos for drug trafficking.
The three Filipino nationals are: a male, 42 years old, who was convicted for smuggling 4,113 grams of heroin on Dec. 28, 2008, in Xiamen; a female, 32 years old, who was convicted for smuggling 4,110 grams of heroin on Dec. 24, 2008, in Xiamen; and a female, 38 years old, who was convicted for smuggling 6,800 grams of heroin on May 24, 2008, in Shenzhen.
“We are trying to set up a phone conversation with (Chinese) President Hu Jintao again to make an appeal for the commutation (of the death sentences of these three Filipinos),” the President said.
He added that he would be meeting with Vice President Jejomar Binay “because I might send him as an emissary (to the People’s Republic of China) to stress how important it is for us to have the death penalty commuted to life imprisonment as we are doing here.”
“Marami tayong nahuhuling of Chinese nationality involved in drugs and we don’t execute any because we have done away with the death penalty,” the President said.
“We’d like to see some reciprocity,” he added. (PCOO)
Aquino hails Obama-Pacquiao meeting
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Wednesday hailed the meeting between United States President Barack Obama and Filipino boxing sensation and Saranggani Representative Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao in Washington, saying it highlighted the Filipino’s talent and worth.
“It (meeting) highlights the fact that we have an outstanding athlete worthy of being talked to by arguably one of the most powerful man in the world,” the President told reporters who waited for him to wind up a command conference with officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Aguinaldo this morning.
“So there is a recognition that in the Philippines we also have talented and worthwhile individuals,” he added.
Pacquiao, who was accompanied by his wife Jinkee, met Obama at the White House’s Oval Office. They talked about boxing and basketball “along with a bit of business,” according to Pacquiao’s publicist Fred Sternburg.
Sternburg said that the eight-division world champion posed with Obama for several photos, including a boxing pose, in the Oval Office. (PCOO)
Aquino to grace 2011 International Confab on Rizal
President Benigno S. Aquino III will be the keynote speaker on Thursday (Feb. 17) to the gala dinner and opening of the three-day International Assembly and Conference on Rizal at the Centennial Ballroom of the Manila Hotel.
The 18th Knights of Rizal international assembly and conference has the theme, “The New Rizals: Emerging Leaders Innovating Across Sectors (ELIAS) and Beyond Borders.”
During the program, the President will be conferred the Knight Grand Cross of Rizal, the highest degree of the Order, which was also conferred posthumously on his father, the late Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. on December 30, 1986.
The Order of the Knights of Rizal was started on Dec. 30, 1911 when Colonel Antonio C. Torres organized a group for the purpose of commemorating in a fitting manner the execution and martyrdom of the country’s national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal.
The Order is a patriotic, civic, non-partisan organization chartered under Republic Act 646 which traces its genealogy to the association of the Caballeros de Rizal which was founded in 1911.
This year’s assembly and conference is a banner occasion of the Rizalistas for the 150th birth anniversary of the country’s national hero. (PCOO)
AFP controversy opportunity to show reforms – Aquino
The current controversy on alleged corruption in the Armed Forces should be taken as an “opportunity” to showcase the reforms taking place in the military, President Benigno S. Aquino III said Wednesday.
In an interview at Camp Aguinaldo this morning the President said that reforms, which have been implemented since 2005 and include halting the practice of “conversion” or turning (programmed) funds into cash, have made the AFP very different from its former self a few years ago.
AFP Spokesperson General Jose Mabanta Jr., in a press conference in Malacañang last Friday, said the AFP started implementing the reforms to prevent demoralization among the soldiers.
Among the reforms were the following: 1) organizational - abolition of J6 (comptrollership office) and replaced resource management office, office of the internal auditor and management and fiscal office;
2) imposing a no conversion/cash advance system, devolution of funds particularly the provision for command directed activities (PCDA); and leadership – by instituting the Daang Matuwid campaign of the Commander-in-Chief.
The AFP, Mabanta said has implemented the Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) which endorses the AFP’s “whole nation” approach in prioritizing the people and their rights and in winning the peace.
Because of these reforms, the President pointed out the AFP’s response time to disasters have greatly improved and have contributed to the “dearth of complaints” against the institution.
He said previous complaints such as “we were not assisted, no one helped us and we were left alone” made by people affected by crises and disasters have not reached the leadership of AFP since the reforms started.
He added the AFP’s ability to go after insurgents have also vastly improved due to the reforms implemented.
Many top leaders of the communist insurgency have been caught and obviously this is the direct effect of the intelligence fund really being used for intelligence purposes,” the President said.
He commended Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin, AFP Chief of Staff Ricardo David, the various service commanders and “everyone who has joined me in this Daang Matuwid (straight path) to really effect the necessary changes in our society.” (PCOO)
