Govt attending to cases of 88 Filipino death convicts

The government is still working and hoping to secure the

commutation of death sentence of 88 Filipinos facing
death penalty in various countries, Presidential
Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma
Jr. assured yesterday.
As of March, 2015, Coloma said there are 34 Filipinos on
death row in Malaysia, 28 in Saudi Arabia, 21 in China,
two in the United States, one in Indonesia, one in Kuwait
and one in Thailand. Around half of the Filipinos
sentenced to death were reportedly convicted of drugrelated offenses.
These Filipinos were sentenced to death. There is an
existing two-year reprieve which means the death
sentence is suspended for two years. The sentence
could be commuted to life imprisonment for good
behavior, Coloma said over government radio.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, all the
death row cases are presently under appeal, he added.
Coloma said the government is doing everything to
protect the rights of Filipinos convicted of crimes abroad.
He said the DFA and the rest of the countrys foreign
posts have been directed to provide Assistance to
Nationals (ATN) program, including providing legal
assistance as well as making appeals through diplomatic
channels.
He said the government has also initiated extensive
education and information campaign to Filipinos about
the laws of the host countries. The public awareness
drive is supervised by the Department of Labor and
Employment, Philippine Information Agency and other
government media organizations.
The plight of other Filipino death convicts abroad has
been highlighted amid governments efforts to save Mary
Jane Veloso from the death row in Indonesia.
Indonesia earlier granted a stay of execution to Veloso
after the Philippine government made an appeal to allow
her to testify against the group who duped her into
bringing illegal drugs in the Asian country.

The last-minute appeal was made by President Aquino a

few hours before the scheduled execution of Veloso last
week.
P500-M FUND FOR OFW DEATH CONVICTS
In a related development, the House leadership
yesterday rallied behind the Makabayan blocs proposed
passage of a P500-million supplemental budget to assist
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on death row.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Deputy Majority
Leader Sherwin Tugna of Citizens Battle against
Corruption party list said the 290-man Lower Chamber
will not in any way block measures that will alleviate the
plight of distressed Filipino workers abroad.
We will support it, it sounds like a good idea. But, I think
the supplemental budget bill for OFWs will be passed
only if requested by the Executive subject to availability
of funds, Belmonte said.
Bayan Muna party list Reps. Neri Colmenares and
Carlos Isagani Zarate had asked Congress to earmark
P500 million in legal assistance fund for distressed
Filipinos abroad after the Indonesian government
delayed the execution Veloso last week.
STRONG CASE VS RECRUITER CAN SAVE MJ
Former senator Panfilo Ping Lacson yesterday stressed
that the Department of Justice (DOJ) should build a
strong case against the alleged recruiter of Indonesia
death row convict Mary Jane Veloso in order to save her
from execution.
Lacson aired the appeal to Justice Secretary Leila de
Lima, saying that there is a good chance that the
suspension of the imposition of the death penalty on
Veloso could be made permanent but this hinges on the
outcome of the case against Ma. Kristina Sergio.
The government should prove that Mary Jane was just
framed up, that she was just used as a mule, that could
perhaps reverse the decision (death penalty) and allow
her to return to the Philippine, Lacson said, adding that
the government can even ask for the commutation of her
sentence if it could prove before a court proceeding that
Veloso was just a victim of human trafficking. (With a
report from Leonard D. Postrado)

Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/govt-attending-tocases-of-88-filipino-deathconvicts/#MJAjlWfo6CWpHHVk.99

Trafficking is the illegal trade in persons by force,

deception, violence, taking advantage of vulnerability, or
similar means, for the purpose of exploitation such as
forced labor, sexual exploitation, removal and sale of
organs, and armed activities.
According to the United Nations, 2.4 million people
across the globe are victims of human trafficking at any
one time, with 80 percent of them exploited as sex
slaves. In sex trafficking alone, children and adults are
abused in the commercial sex industry, generating profits
of $99 billion annually for the criminals who exploit them.
Eight out of every 10 victims of human trafficking are
female, and four out of these eight are minors.
As a form of modern-day slavery, trafficking in persons
thrives as among the most prevalent and pressing
societal injustice. The Philippines, as a developing
country, has rapidly taken its place among the countries
with the biggest number of trafficking incidences. It now
has the fourth highest number of sexually exploited
children among developing countries. Most of our street
children, estimated at around 250,000, are constantly
exposed to sexual exploitation and physical abuse.
Congress ratified the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act
(Republic Act No. 9208) in 2003. The law was further
strengthened by the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in
Persons Act (RA 10364). Our law is considered one of
the best legislative measures among developing
countries, imposing strict punishment for violators.
But as in any other law, proper implementation remains
the biggest challenge. The need to improve law
enforcement capabilities is imperative in order to push
crime prevention and to rescue the victims. Addressing
the broken public justice system is necessary to advance
criminal accountability.

From July 1, 2010, to Nov. 18, 2013, the Inter-Agency

Council Against Trafficking (Iacat), the lead government
agency in fighting the crime, notched 85 convictions in
trafficking cases, with 102 persons convicted. From
those convictions, 71 persons were sentenced to life
imprisonment.
With regard to funding, the 2014 Trafficking in Persons
(TIP) Report of the United States lauded the increase in
the Iacats budget, which nearly doubled to the
equivalent of $2.4 million in 2013. The TIP Report also
recognized the Philippine governments efforts to prevent
the trafficking of overseas workers, and to proactively
identify and rescue victims exploited within the country.
In 2014, a dedicated National Anti-Trafficking Unit under
the Philippine National Polices Women and Children
Protection Center was created.
Last December, the government of Taguig city
government raised the bar in local legislation by passing
not only a city-level ordinance but also ordinances in all
of its barangays against human trafficking and sexual
exploitation of children,
Today, four front-runners in the fight against human
trafficking are joining forces with the goal of
consolidating the efforts of local governments in Metro
Manila. The Department of Interior and Local
Government-NCR, together with the International Justice
Mission, ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation, and
the government of Taguig are holding a summit,
Breaking Free: End Modern-Day Slavery, with the
theme Unifying Local Government Units Against Human
Trafficking at Enderun Colleges in McKinley Hill, Taguig.
The summit is aimed at encouraging the rest of the cities
in Metro Manila to enhance the capacity of all local
offices involved in the fight against human trafficking.

Thankfully, the advocacy is gaining ground. There has

been a marked increase in the conviction of traffickers,
with the promulgation of court decisions now significantly
faster. For example, in June 2013 a Manila court
convicted six persons of human trafficking, with each
one sentenced to life imprisonment.

Indeed, there have been tangible results in the

advocacy, strengthening hope for our public justice
system which includes law enforcement, prosecution, the
judiciary and social services. Toward a transformed
public justice system, not only the commitment of the
national government agencies concerned but also the
dedication of our local government units is necessary. It
is also hoped that the improving trust of the general
public will result in the heightened participation of various
sectors, particularly civil society organizations, religious
groups and the youth.

The accused were found guilty of holding 17 women and

girlssome as young as 13in a high-end bar on
Quezon Avenue in Quezon City where they were
exploited for sex. Judgment was reached just 10 months
after the rescuean astoundingly fast case in the
Philippines. The bar was closed permanently, and the
space now serves as a parking lot.

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The tragic, yet still undetermined fate of Mary Jane

In order to constitute the crime of trafficking in persons,

Veloso brought renewed national attention to the

the following elements must be present:

longstanding problem of human trafficking. Veloso was

convicted of drug charges in Indonesia and was set to be

of

recruitment,

offering,

obtaining,

transportation,

hiring,
transfer,

maintaining, harboring, or receipt of persons with

Indonesian president after he was alerted by migrant

or without the victims consent or knowledge,

groups about the peculiar character of Velosos case:

within or across national borders;

that she was a victim of human trafficking.

The means used include by means of threat, or

use of force, or other forms of coercion,

describe the Philippines. The narrative of Mary Jane is

abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or

only one among the many unfortunate tales of

of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability

undocumented Filipino workers who were lured into

of the person, or the giving or receiving of

working abroad and face the perils of uncharted

payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a

territories just to escape the clutches of rural and urban

person having control over another person

poverty in the country.

Data from the government show that from 2010 to 2014,

act

providing,

executed; but a last-minute reprieve was granted by the

A country of Mary Janes is how migrant groups

The

The

purpose

of

trafficking

includes

the

exploitation or the prostitution of others or other

the number of OFWs leaving the country has skyrocket

forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or

from 2,500 to 6,000 daily. But the greater problem lies in

services, slavery, servitude or the removal or

the increasing number of undocumented workers. In the

sale of organs.

US, for example, the Philippines has among the highest

undocumented immigrant populations, according to a
fact sheet issued by the White House.

Defenses

RA 9208
At present, the law penalizing human trafficking is
Republic Act No. 9208, as amended by R.A. No. 10364
which

was

enacted

pursuant

to

the

Philippines

commitment to the United Nations Trafficking Protocol.

While there were other relevant laws as to trafficking
during that time, such as the Revised Penal Code, the
Migrant Workers Act, the Mail-Order Bride Act, and the
Philippine Passport Act, proponents of the law said these
laws do not respond to the issue of recruiting, harboring

Persons charged with the crime usually posit the

argument that their victims were engaged in prostitution,
that the latter were predisposed to having sex with
customers for money and thus, they should be
exonerated. However, the Supreme Court has said that
this argument is irrelevant. The victims consent is
rendered meaningless because of the coercive, abusive
or deceptive means used by the perpetrators of human
trafficking.

or transporting persons resulting in prostitution, forced

labor, slavery and slavery-like practices. These laws
merely addressed one or some elements of trafficking

Usually,

independent of their results or consequence.

entrapment operations conducted by policemen, in

human

traffickers

are

caught

through

coordination with anti-trafficking groups such as the

resolve to commit the crime comes from the criminal

International Justice Mission. Thus, those accused

himself. In instigation, wherein the accused is induced to

usually argue that the police should first conduct a prior

commit the crime, the law officer conceives the

surveillance before the entrapment operation. It has

commission of the crime and suggests to the accused

been resolved, however, in several cases, that prior

who adopts the idea and carries it into execution. Thus, it

surveillance is not a condition for the validity of an

is important to determine whether the accused was

entrapment

predisposed to commit the offense as when he or she

operation,

underscoring

the

value

of

flexibility in police operations. The only limitation is that

the rights of the accused must not be violated in the
process. This flexibility is even more important in
trafficking cases, since the urgency of rescuing the
victims require immediate action on the part of the law
enforcers.
Anent this contention, a distinction between entrapment
and instigation must first be had. Entrapment is when
law officers employ ruses and schemes to ensure the
apprehension

of

the

criminal

during

the

actual

commission of the crime. In entrapment, the idea and the

initiated the transaction.

Republic Act No. 10364 Act expanding RA 9208 "An Act
to Institute Policies to eliminate trafficking in persons
especially women and children, establishing the
necessary institual mechanisms for the protection and
support of trafficked persons, providing penalties for its
violations and other purposes. -The said law does not
specifically include trafficking of women for purpose of
using them as drug corriers and other drug related
transactions.
Republic Act No. 9165 " Comprehensive Dangerous
Drugs Act of 2002 Said law should include persons
recruting individuals to act as drug corriers in other
country.