Malaysia on right track as death penalty commuted for 3

 

3 Filipinos saved from death row

Posted May 31st, 2012 by Eric B. Apolonio; filed under Nation.3

Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Wednesday said that three Filipino workers were spared the death penalty in Sabah after receiving pardon from the Malaysian government .

Also in Malaysia, another Filipino was handed down  the death sentence for drug possession, Binay said before he left for Washington on Tuesday.

The Philippine embassy in Malaysia identified the three as Basir Omar, Jaliman Salleh and Aldipal Hadani; the death convict was identified as Eliza San Gabriel Resurreccion, 45 years old.

On Tuesday, Binay talked with Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato Sri Anifah Aman and thanked the Malaysian government for granting the pardon.

“We sincerely appreciate the grant of pardon and see it as further validation of the strong ties between the Philippines and Malaysia,” said Binay, also the presidential adviser on workers’ concerns.

Last January, Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya called on Sabah Governor and Pardons Board Chairman Tun Datuk Seri Panglima, and asked for his intervention to have the death sentences of six Filipinos, including the three, commuted.

The Pardons Board handed down on May 22 a decision commuting the death sentence of Omar to 13 years and 7 months. The new sentence would commence  from the date of pardon.

(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on /2012/May/31) Manila Standard Today, 31/5/2012,3 Filipinos saved from death row

Malaysia pardons 3 Filipinos on death row

MANILA – The Malaysian government has pardoned three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on death row in Sabah.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is in the Indonesian capital of Kuala Lumpur, said Wednesday the three OFWs have been spared the death penalty in Sabah.

The Philippine Embassy in Malaysia identified the three as Basir Omar, Jaliman Salleh and Aldipal Hadani.

In his talk with Malaysian Foreign Minister Dato’ Sri Anifah Aman on Tuesday, Binay, Presidential Adviser on OFW concerns, thanked the Malaysian government for granting the pardons.

“We sincerely appreciate the grant of pardon and see it as further validation of the strong ties between the Philippines and Malaysia,” he said.

In January, this year, Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia J. Eduardo Malaya called on Sabah Governor and Pardons Board chairman Tun Datuk Seri Panglima, and requested for his intervention to commute the death sentences of six Filipinos, including the three.

The Pardons Board handed down on May 22 a decision commuting the death sentence of Omar to 13 years and seven months. The new sentence will commence its counting from the date of pardon.

Meanwhile, the death sentences for Salleh and Hadani were reduced to 15 years imprisonment in a decision rendered on May 14 in Kota Kinabalu.

The two were arrested on July 8, 2008 in Kota Kinabalu when police found 867.1 grams of cannabis in their bags, and were sentenced to death by the Sabah High Court on June 25, 2010.

The Vice President cautioned Filipinos in Malaysia not to be lured by criminal syndicates into becoming drug mules or to engage in the illegal drug trade. (PNA) - SunStar, 30/5/2012, Malaysia pardons 3 Filipinos on death row