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.
READ: 2 of 3 pardoned Filipinos in UAE saved from death row – Palace
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.
