Filipina sentenced to death in Indonesia

A Filipina charged with illegal possession of drugs has been sentenced to death in Indonesia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday.

The Filipina, whose identity the DFA has not yet disclosed, was meted the death penalty by a lower court in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta province on October 11 despite a petition for life imprisonment from the state prosecutor.

On April 25 this year, the Filipina was arrested at the Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta by local customs and excise authorities.

The Filipina was reportedly attempting to smuggle 2.6 kilograms of heroin through the airport’s international arrivals terminal.

The Philippine Embassy in Jakarta is working with the Filipina’s lawyer to file an appeal, said the DFA.

The embassy is also extending assistance to the Filipina through jail visitations while the DFA’s migrant workers office maintains contact with her relatives in the Philippines.

“We warn our countrymen from carrying drugs when traveling overseas,” said DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos, noting that other countries often impose very stiff penalties on anyone caught with illegal drugs.

In China, for instance, 75 Filipinos — most of them women — have been sentenced to death for drug smuggling, he said.

Drug trafficking of 50 grams or more of illegal drugs is punishable by life imprisonment or death in China.

In Muslim countries, where a number of Filipinos are also detained for drug-related crimes, Shariah law holds that drug trafficking is punishable by death.

Conejos warned Filipinos planning to travel abroad “not to accept packages which they suspect contain drugs, and also to be wary of the modus operandi being used by drug-trafficking syndicates.”

The DFA has instructed the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to double its efforts as more Filipinas are caught being used as drug mules.

“The country is doing everything to arrest the drug menace, and with the cooperation of all, we hope that we can eradicate it once and for all,” said Conejos.

Still, Filipinos should “take full responsibility for their actions by always being on guard,” he added. – with Larissa Mae Suarez, VVP, GMANews.TV