Mindanao - Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao || ARMM Cotabateño’s death sentence in China commuted to life imprisonment
Cotabateño’s death sentence in China commuted to life imprisonment
Saturday, 28 January 2012 00:00
KIDAPAWAN City--Chinese officials have granted a two-year reprieve to life imprisonment to an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) from Tulunan, North Cotabato earlier caught and sentenced to death due to a drug trafficking offense. In an interview, North Cotabato 2nd District Rep. Nancy Catamco said that upon recommendation of the Fujian Provincial Jail Administration Bureau, the death verdict on incarcerated Richard Bianan has been reduced to life imprisonment for good behavior and performance.
Catamco based her information from a letter sent to her by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. on Wednesday. The lady solon said the Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen, China (Xiamen PCG) reported its receipt of the Note Verbale from the Fujian Provincial Higher People's Court confirming the commutation of Bianan's sentence. Bianan has been incarcerated since 2008 when the Fujian Province Court found him guilty of drug smuggling.
Catamco said the Higher People's Court rendered its decision in accordance with the Article 50 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China enshrined as "anyone who is sentenced to death with suspension of execution commits no intentional crime during the period of suspension, his punishment shall be commuted to life imprisonment upon the expiration of the two-year suspension period". The DFA has regularly notified Catamco on the status of Bianan's case who sought for her help last year.
Catamco said that Bianan has been doing his part in making the government's representations feasible by showing good behavior and have avoided committing another offense while in prison, and getting along well with jail guards and inmates. In July 2008, authorities extracted from Bianan's body 91 oval capsules filled with heroin. The amount of the prohibited drug found on Bianan weighed 1,009.3 grams. The court said the quantity of drug smuggled to China was "so large" that a death penalty had to be imposed. However, Bianan showed remarkable good behavior inside his prison cell, allowing the court to grant him a commutation on his offense. PNA
BY CARLO C. AGAMON
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