Palace: No special treatment for Chinese men convicted over drugs

FILE PHOTO: Four Hong Kong nationals arrested inside a “floating shabu laboratory” off Subic undergo inquest proceedings at the Department of Justice on July 13. INQUIRER.net/TETCH TORRES-TUPAS

MANILA, Philippines – The four Chinese nationals convicted of drug charges for operating a floating shabu laboratory in Subic would not be given special treatment, Malacañang said Thursday, but assured their families they would be “humanely treated” in prison.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement after families of the four Chinese wrote a letter to the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong calling on the government to ensure proper treatment and due process to the convicts.

“We assure the public that no special treatment will be accorded to the four Chinese drug convicts as they serve their life sentence behind bars for operating a floating shabu laboratory in Subic,” Panelo said in a statement.

“Similarly, we also give assurance to their families that they will be given proper treatment in prison, and they will be humanely treated in accordance with the Bill of Rights under our Constitution, as well as with appropriate Philippine laws and rules,” he added.

He said Malacañang was “also coordinating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the possibility of deportation to finally rid this country of these foreign criminals.”

“In any case, the Palace considers this development as clear proof of the Government’s unrelenting war against illegal drugs, which spares no one who violates our laws,” he noted.

Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 74 has sentenced Win Fai Lo, Shu Fook Leung, Kam Wah Kwok and Kwok Tung Chan to life imprisonment after finding them “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” for possessing “shabu,” (crystal meth). /kga