Filipina meted life in ThailandA Filipina was sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand for smuggling drugs, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares said yesterday.
Colmenares learned about the plight of Icoy Mamontong after a three-day stay in Bangkok to visit jailed Filipinos.
Mamontong joined Flory May Talaban, who was also sentenced on drug related charges, he added.
Colmenares said together with the parents of Talaban, he managed to visit Filipinas in the Bangkok Correctional Institution for Female Offenders.
“Flory May detailed how she innocently brought an encyclopedia upon the request of African Francis Yerti, who befriended her and who later turned out to be a member of an international drug syndicate,†he said.
“I also saw a 55-year-old OFW Estrellita Basilio, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for bringing in what she thought were dyeing materials from her employer but later turned out to be cocaine,†he said.
“She retired from her job in the Philippines, lured through the Internet, with a promise of office work with a $1,200 a month salary in a casino.
“She never expected to end up in a Thai prison.â€
Colmenares said Basilio unknowingly pleaded guilty to charges of drug trafficking, which brings to the fore the need to increase the budget for legal assistance to OFWs, which was reduced by the Aquino administration.
“We will definitely fight for a bigger legal assistance budget,†he said.
“It is unthinkable for a Filipino to suffer life imprisonment or even death penalty without the necessary legal support, especially since most of them are unwitting victims of these drug syndicates.
“A budget of at least P500 million will definitely be proposed.â€
Colmenares said lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) must be assigned in Philippine embassies in countries with a large number of OFWs to individually assess their legal cases.
“This initial assessment will help in determining the extent of legal support that must be provided by the Philippine government,†he said.
“We have a responsibility to make sure that due process rights of OFWs are respected when they are accused of crimes, especially those that could merit death sentence,â€
Colmenares authored House Resolution 858 calling for a congressional investigation of OFWs languishing in prisons abroad and whether they were given the necessary legal assistance before they were convicted.
“Mrs. Basilio for example was deemed to have pleaded guilty when she was asked by the Thai judge whether she wanted to accept the case or fight,†he said.
“It is important that when the proceedings are in a foreign language, there must be counsel to advise the accused. There are a total of 60 Filipinos in prisons in Thailand, 23 of whom are detained for being drug couriers.
“We must be proactive here. We cannot wait for another death sentence to be carried out, such as those in China, before we act.†— With Raymund Catindig, Jose Rodel Clapano, Paolo Romero
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