Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 3) — The execution of two Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking in China might have been a consequence of the Philippines’ tougher stand on the maritime dispute in the West Philippine Sea, an analyst said.
Dr. Rommel Banlaoi, president of the Philippine Society for International Security Studies and a board member of China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea, said Beijing might have disregarded the Philippine government’s humanitarian appeal for the two Filipinos due to strained bilateral relations.
He said that while China has every right to enforce its laws, it also considers appeals from other countries depending on the state of their relationship.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the two Filipinos were executed in China on Nov. 24 for bringing shabu weighing nearly 12 kilograms to Guangdong in 2013.
READ: 2 Filipinos executed in China for drug trafficking
“China can be considerate if we were considerate also. However, we did not pay due regard to China’s national position in the West Philippine Sea. It hardened China’s position when it came to the two Filipinos,” Banlaoi said.
Banlaoi also said China might consider the Philippines’ appeal to commute the sentence of two other Filipinos on death row if the Marcos administration works on improving its ties with Beijing.
“If we want to request for humanitarian consideration from China, then we also have to offer something for China that will change its mind. That’s a better relationship, a friendly relationship,” he said.
“We just have to open our channels of communication with China to peacefully settle our territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
In a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, a government official maintained that the Philippines must keep “its independence and not submit to any foreign power.”
“Hostage diplomacy is incompatible with a modern and civilized society,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela said.
“Individuals who attempt to connect the principled stance of the Philippines regarding the West Philippine Sea issue with the tragic execution of Filipinos in the People’s Republic of China likely aim to create divisions among Filipino policymakers and the general public,” he added.
Tarriela said that the Philippines must even more “advance” its national interest, covering Filipinos abroad and the country’s fight for sovereign rights in the disputed waters.
“The two issues are not mutually exclusive,” he said.
