Issue: 3 OFWs from Davao region face illegal

drug trafficking abroad

Friday 25th of March 2011

DAVAO CITY, March 25 (PIA) While three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) await their execution on March 30 for being used as drug mules in China, another three residents from the Davao Region are also locked in other jails abroad pending decision of their illegal drug trafficking case. Regional Director Emerson Rosales of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA-11) bared that two OFWs from Davao del Sur are also in a China jail, while another one from Davao City is in another prison in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Rosales, who did not divulge the identities of the OFWs to protect their respective families, said the only male among the three was apprehended and prosecuted in Beijing, China in April 2009 for carrying 69 capsules of heroin. Rosales told the Philippine Information Agency that the person hid the drugs, which weighed 586 grams, inside his stomach by taking them into his mouth. The OFW was said to hail from Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur. Another one came from the same province, and was caught carrying heroin also in China in February 2009. Rosales said the woman placed the drugs in her suitcase. In April 2010, a woman from Matina, Davao City was arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil where a routine inspection found one kilo of cocaine in her luggage. Rosales said the Department of Foreign Affairs has provided private counsel and other assistance to the jailed OFWs. However, he said it would be difficult to defend their cases, noting that the illegal drugs found in their possession were considered prima facie, or first hand, evidence. According to Rosales, most of the OFWs involved in illegal drug trafficking were victims of the Western African drugs syndicates which have victimized many Filipinos working and with expiring contracts abroad. Rosales said PDEA, together with the Philippine Information Agency, heightened its awareness and advocacy campaign against falling into offers to act as illegal drug couriers. The PIA said that the joint efforts of the PDEA and the National Bureau of Investigation were making headways against the Western African drugs syndicates. Meanwhile, DFA said it would continue to monitor and review the cases of other Filipinos arrested or convicted in China and elsewhere of drug-related and other crimes, for the purpose of protecting their legal rights and ensuring that they receive humane treatment." (PIA-11/Carina L. Cayon)

Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=1561323394091 http://www.pctc.gov.ph/laws/s99EO061.htm

Philippine Lawa on Drug Trafficking

Primary Authority: 1. RA #9165 - An act Instituting the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, repealing RA#6425, otherwise known as the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, as amended, providing funds therefor, and for other purposes. 2. EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 61 - CREATING THE NATIONAL DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PREVENTION COORDINATING CENTER TO ORCHESTRATE EFFORT OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENT UNITS, AND NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION FOR A MORE EFFECTIVE ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN

3. Administrative Order No. 279 On February 8, 2010, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Administrative Order No. 279, creating an inter-agency task force for the prevention of Filipinos from being used as drug couriers by international drug trafficking syndicates.
4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 1988 UN Convention against the Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with the US to facilitate cooperation on law enforcement matters (US Mar. 2006, Vol. 1 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1972 Protocol Amending the Single Convention. The Philippines is a party to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols against trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants UN Convention against Corruption. The U.S. and the GRP continue to cooperate in law enforcement matters through a bilateral extradition treaty and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. In October 2008, the PDEA Director General signed a Memorandum of Agreement with his Indonesian counterpart to share real-time drug intelligence through U.S.-funded intelligence fusion centers in both countries.

II.THE INTERNATIONAL DRUG CONTROL SYSTEM................... 239 A. International Drug Control Law.................................... 239 1. International Drug Control Efforts before 1960 .... 241 2. Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) as amended by the Protocol (1972)............................... 244 3. Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)..... 247 4. United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)....................................................... 249 5. UNGASS Declaration and Action Plans (1998)...... 252 B. United Nations Drug Control Bodies............................ 254 1. Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).................. 254 2. International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)..... 256 3. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)................................................................... 257 C. Regional Initiatives and Cooperation on Drug Control .............................................................................. 258