Church prays for miracle for doomed Filipinos in China

MANILA, Philippines—Catholic Church leaders on Friday said they continued to hope for a miracle that would save the three Filipinos facing the death penalty in China.

“Let’s continue to pray, something good may still happen,” Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez told reporters on Friday.

Iñiguez said he was surprised to learn that the government’s appeal to have the death sentence of Ramon Credo, Sally Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain commuted to life imprisonment was not heeded by the Chinese government.

“It is indeed a very sad news … we could only pray for these countrymen of ours and others meted out the death sentence,” said Maasin Bishop Precioso Cantillas, also chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Episcopal Commission for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.

“We pray also for governments that still enforce capital punishment that they may value life most over other things and to provide all the chance for human rehabilitation,” added Cantillas.

Despite the bleak outlook for the three Filipino drug mules, President Benigno Aquino III must continue to make an appeal to Chinese officials, said Rodolfo Diamante, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Prison and Pastoral Care.

“While it is true that China’s law has to be respected, but there is also such thing as the law of humanity for humanitarian reason,” said Diamante. “Maybe out of goodwill, they will be given another chance.”

In Alicia, Isabela, the family of Villanueva, though apparently resigned to her execution, nevertheless were still “hoping against hope” that Mr. Aquino would again send an emissary like Vice President Jejomar Binay to again negotiate for another delay.

Villanueva’s brother, Jayson Ordinario, told the Inquirer on Friday that the family was discussing ways to fly to China.

Ordinario said the family’s original plan to meet Sally in China, did not push through. They now intend to pursue the plan provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs to “shoulder the expenses as they promised.”