Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Chinese...

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Chinese President Jiang Zemin signed the prisoner swap treaty when they met briefly in Shanghai on the last day of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation summit.
Under the treaty, Filipinos convicted of crimes may be repatriated to their homeland to serve their jail terms here. Chinese convicts now jailed in the Philippines will be entitled to the same privilege.
The President said the Philippines is willing to send back Chinese convicts to their country of origin even "outside of the general agreement."
"We will be sending back Chinese nationals serving jail terms the Philippines including those facing the death penalty. We would like them to serve their sentence or be executed in China," she told her weekly press conference.
Arroyo said that Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking in China, who are to be meted capital punishment, would remain where they are.
Philippine Justice Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee told reporters the treaty is necessary because of the growing number of Filipino and Chinese men being tried and convicted in China and the Philippines [RP]. "It's part of a growing international trend and this is brought about by the increasing concern that no country should be a haven for criminals or terrorists", he said.
However, Teehankee said the Senate will have to ratify any RP-China extradition which Mrs Arroyo and Jiang sign, before it can take effect.