China has put to death a Filipino woman convicted of drug trafficking in 2011, the Philippine government confirmed Wednesday.
The 35-year-old woman, whose identity has been withheld, was executed the morning of July 3, Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Raul Hernandez said.
“It is with profound sadness that we confirm that our fellow Filipino was executed,” Hernandez said told reporters in a briefing.
Hernandez said they were not informed of the date of the execution. The woman’s family flew to China Sunday and was able to talk to her for the last time, Philippines’ Inquirer reported.
The death sentence was carried out despite an appeal from Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to have her sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
Vice President Jejomar Binay was set to travel to Beijing to deliver Aquino’s letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping himself. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it would not receive Binay, saying his visit would not be “convenient”, according to The Associated Press.
She was the fifth Filipino national to be executed in China for attempting to smuggle heroin into the country.
The Philippine government renewed calls for its countrymen to “not allow themselves to be victimized and to fall prey to these drug syndicates,” presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.
