Incidence of Filipinos Being Used as 'Drug Mules' Increasing
Villar Asks for Urgent Action from Authorities
Filed Senate Resolution 1192

Nacionalista Party President Senator Manny Villar says immediate action is needed to prevent the rise in the number of incidents of Filipinos being used 'drug mules' in other countries. He said this as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) released a statement about 183 Filipinos, mostly women, "languishing in various jails in China due to drug trafficking".

Villar has earlier filed Senate Resolution (SRN) 1192 directing the Senate Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs to conduct an investigation into the increasing number of Filipino drug mules which is heavily damaging the country's reputation abroad. The senator's Sagip OFW office has in fact rescued a number of Filipinos victimized by drug cartels.

"We could not possibly rescue every single Filipino who will fall in the hands of drug syndicates worldwide. What we need now are concrete steps to protect them right away. A task force should be formed to focus on this worsening problem," said Villar.

In a statement on DFA website, Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Cataumber Brady said Chinese syndicates continue to use Filipinos as "drug mules" to smuggle dangerous and prohibited drugs into China with 183 Filipinos already in jail.

Since 2007, according to the ambassador, 48 Filipinos have been imposed the death penalty and 26 have received a life sentence for carrying narcotic drugs into China. The DFA statement added that among those arrested in 2009 alone, seven have been imposed the death penalty, seven were meted life sentence while another five received a sentence of at least 15 years' imprisonment.

She said that all those arrested were caught with narcotic drugs in their person or luggage given to them by "friends" they met in transit or another country (in particular Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Kathmandu, Nepal, Vientiane, Laos and Hanoi, Vietnam), who gave them air tickets and pocket money to travel to Hong Kong, Macau or mainland China with the promise that they would be paid US$500, or more upon delivery of the drugs to a contact in their destination.

OFW Nilfa Dumalagan was one of those rescued by Villar's office. She was victimized in Malaysia by a Nigerian, married to a Filipina, who asked her to get a 'package' from Peru. The Nigerian drug cartel is one of the biggest and most notorious, according to reports.

"Our OFWs should watch out and stay away from offers of instant rewards or cash, even from their fellow Filipinos. Our consulates and embassies should be more vigilant in informing Filipinos abroad about such dangers," added Villar.

Villar cited in his Senate resolution data from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) report that in 2008 alone, 111 Filipinos were arrested for drug-related offenses in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. This, the DFA said, was a 594-percent increase from the 16 arrested in 2007. Of those arrested in 2007 and 2008, 22 are facing death sentence, 12 have gotten life, while 11 have been made to serve 15-16 years prison terms.

Majority of the arrests had stemmed from narcotic drugs being found in the suspects' luggage supposedly given to them by people they met in a transit country-usually Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam. The members of foreign drug rings give Filipino mules tickets and pocket money to travel to Hong Kong or to Mainland China and promise to pay the carriers upon delivery of the drugs to their destination.