“On humanitarian grounds and on the basis of the strong friendship and cooperation between our two countries and peoples, I once again appeal to Your Excellency to grant clemency to these three Filipinos,” Binay wrote to President Tao.

Binay cited Item No. 30 of Chapter 4 of the “Notice of the Supreme People’s Court on issuing Some Advice on Implementing the Criminal Policy of Combining Leniency with Rigidity” issued on February 8, 2011.

Item No. 30 states that masterminds of smuggling, fraud, and drug trafficking shall be “sentenced to severe penalties or death.” However, those who were forced to join the crime organization or who played minor roles shall be given leniency or commutation if they meet the requirements.

Binay maintained that although the Philippine government does not condone drug trafficking, it believed that the three Filipinos were merely victims of international drug syndicates.

Elizabeth Batain, Sally Ordinario Villanueva, and Ramon Credo were arrested separately in 2008 for smuggling four to six kilograms of heroin to China. They were initially scheduled to be executed on February 20 and 21.

China stayed the execution after Binay visited Beijing and made an appeal.

As this developed, Jason Ordinario firmly believes there is a sliver of hope his sister Sally would not be executed in China next week.

On March 30, Sally is to die by lethal injection in China’s Xiamen province after being convicted of drug trafficking.

She is one of three Filipinos sentenced to be executed for drug-related offenses.

“We are hopeful that Sally will still be alive after March 30. She's a great sister. May tiwala ako na hindi siya bibitayin sa Wednesday,” Jason Ordinario said.

He has put his faith in Vice President Jejomar Binay to convince the Chinese government to sparing the lives of Sally, Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain.

“If he was able to convince the Chinese officials before then I know that he (Binay) can do it again,” Ordinario told the Manila Bulletin in a phone interview.

Jason, together with his parents and sister, will fly to China this weekend to visit their sister perhaps for the last time.

The three Filipinos were originally scheduled to be executed last February 20 and 21 but it was postponed after a high-level delegation led by Binay went to Beijing to personally appeal for clemency.

Villanueva and Credo will be executed in Xiamen, and Batain, in Shenzen.

Ordinario said he and the rest of his family remain believe Binay could once again charm his way into the hearts of Chinese officials.

“Hindi namin iniisip na mabibitay si Sally kasi may tiwala kami na kaya pang ma-apela ang kaso ni Sally,” he said.

“Kung iisipin namin na mabibitay si Sally ay para na rin naming siyang pinabayaan,” Ordinario said.

Asked what will be his message to Sally when he finally sees him, he replied: “Wag siyang susuko at mawawalan ng pag-asa. Mahal na mahal namin siya.”

His also wishes that her sister be able to see her two children again.

“Hindi makakasama yung mga bata kasi baka ma-trauma. Pero sana makapiling muli ni Sally yung mga anak niya. Tatlong taon na rin niya na hindi nakikita yung dalawa,” he said.

But he vowed to continue guiding Villanueva's children until she comes home.

"Si Mary Joy gusto niyang maging lawyer para maligtas daw niya yung kapatid ko sa pagkakabitay. Kahit wala man si ate, nandito ako para subaybayan siya at matupad niya yung pangarap niya," he said.

One of Batain’s sisters, who requested not to be named, was also optimistic the execution would be deferred again.

“We believe in God 100 percent, and in (Binay), that the execution will not push through),” she said.

On Friday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said there will be no media coverage of the execution.

"I think there must be practice to follow," embassy spokesman Ethan Sun told the Bulletin.

Asked how the family would know if the execution had been carried out, Sun said: "Everything would be arranged in an appropriate manner."

Sun said discussions are under way for the remains of Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Elizabeth Batain to be brought home after the death sentences have been carried out.

"The release of the remains of (the executed) foreign nationals is usually doable," Sun said. "I think that the detailed arrangements would be consulted among the Philippine diplomatic missions and the related Chinese authorities."

Credo was arrested on Dec. 28, 2008 at the Gaoji International Airport in Xiamen for carrying 4,113 grams of heroin, while Villanueva was nabbed on Dec. 24, 2008 also in Gaoji Airport for carrying some 4,410 grams of the prohibited substance.

Batain was caught in Shenzhen Airport with 6,800 grams of the same substance.

After the sentence is carried out, the next of kin have two options – to cremate the remains, or to bring the body home.

The procedure for execution by lethal injection is usually kept secret by Chinese authorities.

On Friday, President Benigno S. Aquino III said the government was still trying to save the three Filipinos but admitted there are “limitations” to what he can do.

“There is a point that we have to respect the laws of other lands,” he said.

“We’re still trying to get them to reduce the penalty. As you know, we don’t have the death penalty but at the end of the day, there were crimes committed in the different country,” Aquino said.

Some senators Friday urged the public to respect the government of China’s final decision to carry out the death sentence on the three Filipinos.

“The government has exhausted all efforts to save them but China stood firm on its law against drugs,” Sen. Franklin Drilon said in a radio interview. “But I think the government has done its part so we must not give them false hopes because our officials have done everything to save them. Let’s just leave their fate to God.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said if Vice President Binay could still appeal for the lives of the three convicts, that would be good news.

But Estrada said he doesn’t see any hope of the Supreme People’s Court of China reversing its ruling.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III also does not see China yielding to the government’s appeal for clemency, given its stringent laws on drug trafficking.

“Hindi na dapat i-appeal. Ipagdasal na lang natin sila. Drug trafficking ‘yan, malabo na siguro,” Sotto said.

Ellson Quismorio, Manila Bulletin