MetroVanIndependent.com
July 2015
7
news
Malaysian Pardons Board Commutes Death Sentence on a Filipina
By the MetroVan Independent News Team
The Philippine Embassy in Kuala
Lumpur revealed that Malaysia’s Selangor
Pa rdo n s B oa rd c o mmu te d to life
imprisonment a death sentence previously
imposed on a Filipina.
Sultan of Selangor HRH Sharafuddin
Idris Shah Al-Haj, chairman of the State of
Selangor Pardons Board, commuted the
sentence meted on Jacqueline Quiamno
to life imprisonment (natural life) on June
15, in response to a request for clemency
made by the Philippine Embassy and her
family.
“The Embassy conveys its heartfelt
appreciation to the Sultan of Selangor
and the Selangor Pardons Board for this
sterling manifestation of benevolence and
compassion,” the Embassy said.
Ms. Quiamno was arrested in June
2005 for smuggling five kilograms of
cocaine at the Kuala Lumpur International
Airport which was found in her luggage.
She did it on the bidding of an African drug
syndicate based in Hong Kong.
After trial, she was handed a guilty
verdict by the Shah Alam High Court in
November 2010, which was affirmed by
the Federal Court in July 2013.
Last February, eight Filipino prisoners,
seven males and one female, were also
granted pardon by Sabah Governor
Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Juhar Haji
Mahiruddin.
These Filipinos committed the crime
of drug trafficking when they were minors.
The crime is punishable by death. They
were in jail for 21 to 26 years. Because of
their age that time, they were not meted
the death sentence, but instead imprisoned
“under the pleasure of the governor”.
“Their release brought much joy to the
Filipinos and their families who waited for
their homecoming for over 20 years,” the
Embassy added.
In November 2014, the Embassy sent
letter of appeals to the Sabah Governor to
intercede for the eight Filipinos, as well as
for other Filipinos in jail in Sabah.
Although the death penalty remains in
the statute books of Malaysia, and local
courts continue to impose it in grave
offenses, there has been a reluctance to
carry out the death penalty, or undertake
execution, in recent years.
In October 2012, the Prime Minister’s
Department said that it would look
into the possibility of staying the death
sentences for drug offenders pending
the government’s final decision on the
proposal to abolish the mandatory death
penalty.
D e ath p e n a l t y c o nvi c ti o n s a r e
referred to the State Pardons Boards
headed by the Sultan or Governor of the
concerned State. The latter often favors
extending compassion to the convict and
granting commutation after lengthy their
imprisonment.
The last execution of a Filipino in
Malaysia was 22 years ago, in June 1993,
when a Filipino was executed for the crime
of murder in Sabah.
This deferral should be a relief for
Filipinos meted capital punishment in
Malaysia, notably Gerry Saavedra Quijano
and couple Timhar and Nurie Ong who
were arrested for drug smuggling in 2008
and 2005, respectively, and whose families
in Zamboanga have clamored for their
release.
Will Filipino-Canadians boycott China products, too?
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CIT Y -- Some FilipinoCanadian communities in Canada haven’t
openly issued a statement of support
for the US Pinoys for Good Governance
(USPGG), which recently organized
protests in key US cities to boycott
Chinese-made goods, to protest China’s
harassment of the Philippines in the
disputed South China Sea islands.
This developed as the United States,
the Philippines’ No. 1 ally, and China
continued to strengthen their development
cooperation in a series of meetings
recently.
Either the call of community leader
and billionaire Loida Nicolas-Lewis, who
led over 50 people in front of the Apple
store on Fifth Avenue during the Philippines
Independence Day to boycott Made in
China products, failed to tantalize them or
they were not yet ready to march in the
streets of Canada to demonstrate their
support for the their countrymen in the
disputed territories.
S o m e c l othin g, toys a n d fo o d
companies in North America continue to
sell China-made products and no signs of
boycott have been recorded recently.
“Many Filipinos in Canada, of course,
also echo the sentiments of the USPGG
especially on the issu