PH to bring up possibility of repatriation of Filipinos on death row in Malaysia in October meet
The Philippines will use the upcoming joint commission meeting with Malaysia to further raise the issue of Filipinos serving death sentences in the foreign land as it attempts to repatriate them to the country.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Ali Vicoy)
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said during a post-state visit briefing in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, July 27, that he was able to bring up the case of 56 Filipinos included in Malaysia's death row. Although the President said that the transfer of Filipinos serving sentences back to the Philippines was taken up during his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, further discussions will have to take place. The joint commission meeting (JCM) will be the platform for the matter, he said. "[O]ne of the important things, the items, that we talk about was the convening in October of the JCM which is the joint commission mechanism that we have between Malaysia and the Philippines," Marcos said. "This is something that we are going to convene after a long time, it's been a while but the issues of, for example, the transfer of Filipinos back to the Philippines is now being attended to by our KL (Kuala Lumpur) Embassy. And I think that we have a good working relationship when it comes to that," he added. The cases of Filipinos facing death sentences vary, the President said, thus actions that must be taken for them will vary too. The effort to repatriate these Filipinos would "essentially" mean they will be brought to the Philippines to serve their sentence, Marcos said. He, however, did not elaborate on how the government would do it amid Malaysian laws being applied to the nationals. Marcos further said that the joint commission mechanism "is something that we use to raise any issues that would come up between the Philippines and Malaysia," saying this matter was one of them. "So it was my suggestion to Prime Minister Anwar upon the briefing of the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) that we can take up the repatriation of Filipinos in the next convening of the joint commission," he said. Both countries have agreed to convene the JCM to discuss priority cooperation in various areas of mutual interest.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Ali Vicoy)
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said during a post-state visit briefing in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, July 27, that he was able to bring up the case of 56 Filipinos included in Malaysia's death row. Although the President said that the transfer of Filipinos serving sentences back to the Philippines was taken up during his meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, further discussions will have to take place. The joint commission meeting (JCM) will be the platform for the matter, he said. "[O]ne of the important things, the items, that we talk about was the convening in October of the JCM which is the joint commission mechanism that we have between Malaysia and the Philippines," Marcos said. "This is something that we are going to convene after a long time, it's been a while but the issues of, for example, the transfer of Filipinos back to the Philippines is now being attended to by our KL (Kuala Lumpur) Embassy. And I think that we have a good working relationship when it comes to that," he added. The cases of Filipinos facing death sentences vary, the President said, thus actions that must be taken for them will vary too. The effort to repatriate these Filipinos would "essentially" mean they will be brought to the Philippines to serve their sentence, Marcos said. He, however, did not elaborate on how the government would do it amid Malaysian laws being applied to the nationals. Marcos further said that the joint commission mechanism "is something that we use to raise any issues that would come up between the Philippines and Malaysia," saying this matter was one of them. "So it was my suggestion to Prime Minister Anwar upon the briefing of the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) that we can take up the repatriation of Filipinos in the next convening of the joint commission," he said. Both countries have agreed to convene the JCM to discuss priority cooperation in various areas of mutual interest.