Neha Jain: http://philippinesaviationnews.blogspot.com/17

1.Binay: Pray for miracle to save 3 Pinoys in China

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Thursday urged the country to turn to prayer to save the lives of 3 Filipinos facing execution on China's death row.

“Wag nating sabihin na it’s over. Hangga’t hindi nangyayari, may pag-asa pa....Isama natin sila sa ating dasal. Miracles can happen. This is an instance when we ask for miracles to happen,” he said in a press conference in Malacañang.

Binay had received instructions from President Benigno Aquino III to go to China to appeal the case of the three OFWs.

However, Binay said he was told that his impending visit to Beijing was considered “inappropriate” by the Chinese government.

The Philippine government is exerting all efforts to commute the sentences of the 3 Filipinos who are scheduled to be executed next week.

The accused, one male and two females, were sentenced to death by lethal injection for smuggling 4-6 kilograms of heroin. Under Chinese law, smuggling of 50 grams or more of heroin or equivalent drugs is punishable by death.

The Chinese Embassy on Wednesday said the death sentence on 3 Filipino drug traffickers in China was sustained after a judicial review of the Supreme People's Court (SPC) of the People's Republic of China. The embassy said the Philippines has already been informed of the SPC's decision through diplomatic channels.

Earlier, the Vice President echoed the President's appeal to the government of China to commute the death penalty to life imprisonment for humanitarian reasons.

“We do not question the decision of the Chinese courts in meting the death penalty to the accused. However, the accused are not the principals in this case,” he added.

Binay noted that the accused were “ordinary Filipinos” who left the country in search for a better life for their families. He added that they were taken advantage of by drug syndicates and made to carry illegal drugs in exchange for easy money.

The Vice President also emphasized that the accused are not drug traffickers, pushers, manufacturers or users.

“I am calling on the Chinese government to re-evaluate the sentence in light of the aforementioned considerations,” he said.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ricky Carandang said the Philippine government has already successfully appealed to the Chinese government to commute the sentences of other Filipinos on China's death row.

"Death sentence din sila pero na-commute na natin and sentence nila, life imprisonment na lang. Ang naiiwan na lang talaga itong 3 because the Chinese government said the evidence against them is strong," he said.

He also noted that President Aquino wanted to confer with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the matter but the Chinese government has not signified willingness to accept the phone call.
2. Philippine envoy's message crucial to Taiwan's next move: MOFA
Taiwan's next move in the efforts to resolve a diplomatic dispute with the Philippines will depend on who Manila sends to Taipei to deal with the issue and what the envoy says, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Thursday.

"The Philippines is expected to announce soon its its choice of an envoy, who should arrive in Taiwan within a week, " MOFA spokesman James Chang told reporters. "Our response will be contingent on who the envoy is and what message he or she brings."

Taiwan and its southern neighbor have been engaged in a diplomatic row over the Philippines' deportation of 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China Feb. 2.

Arguing that Manila had ignored its jurisdiction rights, Taiwan subsequently implemented punitive measures against the Philippines, including tighter visa screening of Philippine nationals seeking to work in Taiwan.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said last week that he would send an emissary to Taiwan to explain his administration's actions in the matter.

According to the Philippine media, Manuel Roxas, a close friend of the president who once served as the Philippines' trade and industry minister, has been selected to head the mission to Taiwan.

Taiwan recognizes Manila's "goodwill" in its plan to send an envoy but insists that the Philippine government apologize, government spokesman Johnny Chiang reiterated Tuesday.

Manila has maintained that there is no need to apologize to Taiwan over the deportation issue.

Asked by a reporter whether President Ma Ying-jeou will meet with the Philippine envoy, Chang said that will be decided after the Philippines makes an official announcement.

In related news, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), the Philippines' de facto representative office in Taiwan, declined to comment Thursday on a visit to Taiwan by MECO Chairman Armadeo Perez reportedly to appeal on behalf of Philippine workers who allegedly have been having a hard time returning to their jobs in Taiwan since the deportation controversy.

3. Cops rejected broadcasters' offer to negotiate with hostage-taker, HK court told

On August 23 last year, when dismissed senior police inspector Rolando Mendoza held hostage a bus with Chinese tourists, the police rejected the offers of at least two Manila radio hosts to negotiate with the hostage-taker, a Hong Kong court was told on Thursday.

This was the gist of the broadcasters' statements that were read before the Coroners' Court, according to a report by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).

"(Philippine) police refused an offer by two Manila radio hosts to help reopen negotiations with the gunman who took a busload of tourists from the territory hostage," the RTHK report said on Thursday.

Eight Chinese tourists from Hong Kong were killed along with their hostage-taker, Mendoza, in last year's hostage crisis in Manila.

While the RTHK report did not name the broadcasters, it said the two claimed that Mendoza had "stopped answering phone calls from the police, but he agreed to being interviewed by them."

A Philippine Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) found that Mendoza was interviewed at length during the crisis by Michael Rogas of Radyo Mo Nationwide (RMN)-dzXL.

Police negotiators had claimed they could not get through to Mendoza because Mendoza was busy speaking with Rogas.

However, the statements read before Thursday's hearing in Hong Kong claimed that the broadcasters asked the police to use their phone line to speak with Mendoza but were turned down.

"They said they'd repeatedly asked the police to use their phone line to speak with him, but the offer was turned down," the RTHK report said.

The report added that the broadcasters also dismissed accusations that their interview caused the gunman to have a sudden emotional outburst.

The RTHK report said the broadcasters claimed that Mendoza became angry only after seeing his brother being arrested on a television monitor.

4. Peace Talks Between Manila and Maoist Rebels Begin

The Philippines government and Maoist rebels sat down for their first formal talks in more than six years on Tuesday.

It was hosted by Norway in the Oslo suburb of Nesbru.

The negotiations are not expected to produce immediate results to end an insurgency that dates back half a century in which 40,000 people were killed.

But both sides may agree to hold more talks and extend a ceasefire.

The Philippines government and the Maoist rebels have been in negotiations for nearly 25 years to end one of the world's last remaining communist insurgencies.

Last week, Philippines government negotiators said they were optimistic talks would produce results in 18 months and saw peace achievable in three years if both sides were sincere.

Analysts do not share that optimism, saying there are many serious obstacles to peace talks, although the negotiations could reduce violence.

After talks on economic issues are completed, the negotiations will focus on political and constitutional reforms.

Human rights and political prisoner issues would be a side-table debate.

Maoists have tried to overthrow the national government since the late 1960s, and have kept fighting even after democracy was restored in 1986.

Peace talks brokered by Norway have resulted in about a dozen agreements, including a joint monitoring committee to address allegations of human rights cases committed by both sides.

NEHA JAIN

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