The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur revealed that Malaysia’s Selangor Pardons Board commuted to life imprisonment a death sentence previously imposed on a Filipina.
Sultan of Selangor HRH Sharafuddin Idris Shah Al-Haj, chairman of the State of Selangor Pardons Board, commuted the sentence meted on Jacqueline Quiamno to life imprisonment (natural life) on June 15, in response to a request for clemency made by the Philippine Embassy and her family.
“The Embassy conveys its heartfelt appreciation to the Sultan of Selangor and the Selangor Pardons Board for this sterling manifestation of benevolence and compassion,” the Embassy said.
Ms. Quiamno was arrested in June 2005 for smuggling five kilograms of cocaine at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport which was found in her luggage. She did it on the bidding of an African drug syndicate based in Hong Kong.
After trial, she was handed a guilty verdict by the Shah Alam High Court in November 2010, which was affirmed by the Federal Court in July 2013.
Last February, eight Filipino prisoners, seven males and one female, were also granted pardon by Sabah Governor Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Juhar Haji Mahiruddin.
These Filipinos committed the crime of drug trafficking when they were minors. The crime is punishable by death. They were in jail for 21 to 26 years. Because of their age that time, they were not meted the death sentence, but instead imprisoned “under the pleasure of the governor”.
“Their release brought much joy to the Filipinos and their families who waited for their homecoming for over 20 years,” the Embassy added.
In November 2014, the Embassy sent letter of appeals to the Sabah Governor to intercede for the eight Filipinos, as well as for other Filipinos in jail in Sabah.
Although the death penalty remains in the statute books of Malaysia, and local courts continue to impose it in grave offenses, there has been a reluctance to carry out the death penalty, or undertake execution, in recent years.
In October 2012, the Prime Minister’s Department said that it would look into the possibility of staying the death sentences for drug offenders pending the government’s final decision on the proposal to abolish the mandatory death penalty.
Death penalty convictions are referred to the State Pardons Boards headed by the Sultan or Governor of the concerned State. The latter often favors extending compassion to the convict and granting commutation after lengthy their imprisonment.
The last execution of a Filipino in Malaysia was 22 years ago, in June 1993, when a Filipino was executed for the crime of murder in Sabah.
This deferral should be a relief for Filipinos meted capital punishment in Malaysia, notably Gerry Saavedra Quijano and couple Timhar and Nurie Ong who were arrested for drug smuggling in 2008 and 2005, respectively, and whose families in Zamboanga have clamored for their release.
