Villar: Authorities should protect OFWs, hunt down illegal recruiters

“Illegal recruiters who continue to prey on our kababayan should be hunted down and penalized forcefully,” Senator Cynthia Villar said on Tuesday.

She said information campaign about the modus operandi of human and drug traffickers should be intensified especially in the communities and rural areas.

Villar issued the statement  as Filipina Mary Jane  Veloso is scheduled to be executed by firing squad in Indonesia  this Tuesday for drug trafficking.

READ: Veloso execution set on April 28, say Ma, lawyers | Indonesia orders execution of Veloso, 9 others | Veloso bids final farewell

Veloso was arrested in April 2010 at the Yogyakarta Airport after 2.6 kilograms of heroin was found in her luggage. She said she was tricked into bringing the luggage to Indonesia by her recruiter, Kristina Sergio.

“The case of Mary Jane is not new, we have heard of these stories before of illegal recruiters taking advantage of our people in the provinces who are in dire need of a job. Many Filipinos in death row abroad are in similar situation,” Villar said.

“Innocent or not, Filipinos in foreign jails deserve the assistance of our government,” she added.

While recognizing the effort to stop Veloso’s execution, Villar said the government should not wait for the notice of execution before rushing to the aid of a fellow Filipino.

“As early as now, we should be exhausting all efforts for the commutation of death sentence to lower penalties for other Filipinos in foreign jails,” she said.

Villar also noted that during last year’s deliberation of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ budget, the Senate increased the legal assistance fund (LAF) from P30 million to P100 million.

The fund, under the amended Migrant Workers Act of 1995, was created to provide legal services to migrant workers and overseas Filipinos in distress. It is used to pay for the fees for the foreign lawyers, bail bonds, court fees and charges, and other litigation expenses.

“We understand the plight of OFWs in death row and we want them to have access to competent legal assistance so that they can sufficiently defend their case in foreign courts,” Villar said.