VP Binay: 3 OFWs spared from death penalty in Sabah
By OVP Media
May 30, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR – Vice President Jejomar C. Binay has announced that
three Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) have been spared the death
penalty in Sabah after receiving pardons from the Malaysian
government.
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 7 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.