40 FILIPINOS OVERSEAS FACE DEATH PENALTY: GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL

October 15, 2008: a total of 40 Filipinos overseas are facing the death penalty in various countries, a government official of the Philippines said.
The cases, involving offences such as rape, drug smuggling and homicide, are pending in Kuwait, Malaysia, Brunei, the United States and Saudi Arabia among others, said Esteban Conejos,
Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Conejos said the cases are in different stages, but in the event of conviction, the maximum penalty is death.
Since 2006, there were a total of 64 death penalty cases, but the government was able to ask commutation of 24 sentences from death to life imprisonment. (Sources: Xinhua, 15/10/2008)