40 Pinoys in Brazil jails for drug offenses

MANILA, Philippines -  More than 40 Filipinos are in jail in Brazil for drug trafficking, according to Brazil’s top diplomat in Manila.

Ambassador Alcides Prates said most of the Filipinos jailed for drug-related offenses in Brazil are women.

Prates spoke to reporters at the first diplomatic reception hosted by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario at The Peninsula Manila in Makati on Monday.

A Filipina was arrested at the Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil last Aug. 19 after police found five kilos of cocaine in 15 bags hidden in her luggage with false bottoms, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Quoting a report from the Philippine embassy in Brasilia, the DFA said the Filipina told police she bought the bags in the middle of the street in Sao Paolo and intended to sell them in the Philippines.

She was not aware that the bags contained prohibited substances.

The embassy reported that from January to October 2010, 15 Filipinos were arrested in Brazil for drug trafficking, 13 of them women.

It is monitoring 50 reported cases of Filipinos detained for drug trafficking.

The Philippine embassy in Santiago, Chile also reported that the number of Filipinos detained for drug trafficking in other South American countries is on the rise.

Based on reports from the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, 23 Filipinos were arrested in Peru in 2010, 21 of them women.

There are now 43 Filipinos detained for drug-related offenses in Chile, Peru and Ecuador.

Filipina caught with heroin in Indonesia

A Filipina was arrested at Adi Soemarmo International Airport in Central Java, Indonesia for possession of 1.193 kilograms of heroin on Sunday.

Cherry Ann Panaligan, 26, arrived in Solo, Central Java aboard an Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

During routine security check, Indonesian customs officials discovered the illegal drugs concealed in the false compartment of Panaligan’s suitcase.

On initial questioning, Panaligan told Indonesian narcotics agents that the illegal drugs were passed to her by another Filipino in Malaysia with instructions to transport the contraband to Solo.

Panaligan said she was paid $800 for the job.

Customs narcotics teams in Jakarta had received prior intelligence report that a female drug courier would be bringing in heroin from Kuala Lumpur.

Watch ports for drugs

Dangerous Drugs Board chairman Antonio Villar Jr. urged authorities to watch closely the country’s ports to fight the entry of illegal drugs.

Villar told reporters since the Philippines has the second longest coastline in the world, pro-active actions must be undertaken in the continuing fight against illegal drugs.

“We have a very difficult situation but the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the police’s anti-drug special task groups are doing double time to eliminate if not totally eradicate drug smugglers’ activities,” he said.

Villar said when he was chief of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group, they made the biggest drug haul in Asia in the port of Subic.

The suspects passed through a restricted area, which means some people supposed to guard the entry of illegal goods are in cahoots with smugglers, he added.

Villar said being surrounded by bodies of water, the Philippines has become a transshipment point of drugs.

“We are surrounded by different syndicates now but we will not stop until we apprehend them,” he said.

PAO lawyers to help jailed OFWs

The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) plans to give legal assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) facing criminal charges abroad.

Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta said her office will coordinate with the DFA in helping troubled OFWs.

“Our office may extend assistance to our OFWs who have cases abroad pursuant to PAO law (RA 9406),” she said.

Acosta told The STAR public attorneys are allowed by law to give legal aid to jailed Filipinos abroad.

“PAO may coordinate with legal aid providers and counterparts abroad,” she said.

“We also plan to guide our OFWs on their legal and international rights abroad.”

Acosta said although PAO’s options in helping OFWs in foreign courts may be limited, it can at the very least ensure that their rights are protected.

The new program is part of President Aquino’s intensive social justice program for OFWs, she added. — Pia Lee-Brago, Eva Visperas, Edu Punay, Jaime Laude