Filipino couple was recently meted the death penalty by the highest court in Malaysia for drug-related offenses

Filipino couple was recently meted the death penalty by the highest court in Malaysia for drug-related offenses, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).


In a statement, the DFA said the Federal Court, Malaysia’s final court of appeal, affirmed last April the death sentence that was handed down by the Court of Appeals a year ago.

The couple was arrested by Malaysian authorities in August 2005 at the Kota Kinabalu Daya Hotel for possession of 450 grams of shabu that were found in the soles of couple’s shoes.

According to the DFA, the two Filipinos hired a private lawyer to represent them in court. Their families also did not inform the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur about the case until July 2009.

By that time, the case was already at a “relatively advance stage,” the DFA said.

Government action

DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Esteban B. Conejos Jr. said the government is exhausting all legal means to spare the lives of the couple.

Upon learning about the case, the DFA said the Embassy immediately provided assistance to the couple and visited them in prison to check on their condition and health. It also directed the Embassy to make representations to the Governor of Sabah, who has the prerogative to commute the death sentences to life imprisonment.

It added that the Embassy has also transmitted the appeal letter of the couple’s daughter and the husband’s brother-in-law to spare their lives for humanitarian reasons.

“Like the Philippines, Malaysia has a strong anti-drug policy, and we respect that. We also recognize the gravity of their offenses,” Conejos said.

“This is why we continually warn our countrymen from carrying drugs when traveling overseas and especially not to accept packages from others which may contain drugs. If they are caught, they will face very dire circumstances,” he added.

The number of overseas Filipinos arrested for drug smuggling continues to rise despite the creation of the Task Force Drug Couriers, with the mission of preventing Filipinos from being used as drug couriers by international drug trafficking syndicates.

Drug mules

Overseas-bound Filipino workers have fallen prey to drug syndicates recruiting couriers, also known as “mules,” to transport illegal drugs inside their luggage or shoes or fabric buttons.

More recently, syndicates have come up with more dangerous ways of smuggling prohibited substances, like stuffing or even surgically sewing narcotics inside the bodies of Filipino couriers.

A party-list lawmaker, Walden Bello of Akbayan, recently disclosed that five Filipinos – four women and a man – may be executed in China this month over drug-related offenses.

The DFA earlier said 302 Filipinos are facing drug-related cases in Asia alone, majority of whom are in China (205 cases), Hong Kong (26) and Malaysia (17). It added 221 of these cases involve women.

Conejos said the government is doing everything to put a stop to the drug problem involving overseas-bound Filipinos.