The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday 85 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are on death row in several countries. It said that 60 of them have been implicated in drug-related crimes. In China alone, 48 of the 183 Filipino held on drug-related offenses are in death row, the department said. Citing a report from Ambassador to China Sonia Cataumber Brady, the DFA said most of the 183 Filipinos held on drug trafficking charges are women. Esteban Cornejos Jr., the Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs, said the drug-related cases were filed “mostly in China” while about 10 were in Malaysia. Conejos said the DFA has been issuing warnings to OFWs against being used as drug mules by Chinese drug syndicates when traveling to China. “We renew our call to the OFWs … you are under obligation to obey the laws, culture, especially the religious tradition (in your host country), in the same way as we expect foreigners to respect the Filipino culture,” Conejos said. Brady said more and more Filipinos are lured to carry illegal drugs to China for money. She said the 183 Filipinos, mostly women, in Chinese prisons face drug trafficking offenses. “Since 2007, 48 Filipinos have been imposed the death penalty and 26 have received a life sentence for carrying narcotic drugs into China,” Brady said. “I therefore urge Filipinos to resist any offer of financial reward from syndicates to carry prohibited drugs to China or to any other country in the world,” she said. China imposes tough penalties against any person caught in possession of prohibited or dangerous drugs. “In China, drug trafficking of 50 grams or more of highly dangerous drug like heroin maybe punishable by 15 years in prison, life imprisonment or death,” Brady said. She said those arrested were caught personally carrying illegal drugs or in luggage given to them by people who befriended them while traveling. The DFA said drug traffickers usually befriend unsuspecting strangers and then gave them money for an errand to bring a package that contain illegal drugs.
