Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 26) — The Philippine government is optimistic that they can bring home the three Filipinos recently pardoned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government.
Two of the convicts were saved from death row due to drug charges while the other Filipino convict was charged with slander according to a statement released by Malacañang last week. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made a request to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to pardon the Filipinos through a special letter.
"Very frequent din magbigay ng pardon ang UAE sa ating mga kababayan na nagkaroon na ng sentensya o facing the maximum sentence. This is part of diplomacy," Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes told CNN Philippines on Monday.
[Translation: The UAE government frequently grants pardon to Filipinos already sentenced by courts or those facing maximum sentences. This is all part of diplomacy]
Cortes added that their priority now is to bring home the three pardoned Filipinos.
"Inaayos ang papel nila, exit clearances nila para makauwi na sila ng maayos," Cortes said.
[Translation: We are just fixing their papers including exit clearances so that they can come back home in the Philippines]
Cortes added that he could not give a timeline yet on when they will be back in the Philippines, but it may happen very soon.
The DFA official said that there are a handful of Filipinos on death row in the UAE mostly due to drug-related charges or murder.
"Less than 10, hindi naman ganoon karami ang nasa [not that many are on] death row, many of our kababayans are still undergoing litigation procedures," Cortes said.
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Published Jun 26, 2023, 2:26:30 PM
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