There are some 130 out of 3,827 detained Filipinos who are currently lined for death row in 52 countries, Senator Ralph Recto said on September 19.
Recto urged for a higher funding to provide legal assistance for overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
Citing the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Recto said that most of these cases are related to drug activities as of 2016.
He also said the figure does not include other OFWs in distress like the 625 Filipinos under investigation for various offenses and those who were victim to abuse.
“This is just, however, the tip of the iceberg of Filipinos in distress in foreign lands. Sila ‘yung nagkasala. Hindi kasama dito ang mga kababayan nating nabiktima. Di hamak na mas maraming Pilipino ang nakaranas ng pang-aapi o naabuso ang karapatan,” Recto said.
Recto also called for the increase of the “Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) Fund” of the DFA to further assist Filipinos who are facing legal problems abroad.
The proposed 2018 national budget of ATN is P1 billion, which is way higher than the P400 million funding this year. The legal fund is also proposed to increase to P200 million.
“…It is a big jump. Pero kulang pa rin. Kung titingnan mo ang dapat tulungan, sadyang maliit ang halaga,” Recto said.
Most offenses done by OFWs in their host countries are related to illegal drug activities, where 2,265 cases were recorded.
Malaysia has recorded the most number of imprisoned OFWs because of drug related cases with 1,131.
Meanwhile, there are 903 Filipinos imprisoned worldwide due to immigration offences.
Recto also said that 351 Filipinos are in jail for so-called “love cases”, such as homosexuality and immorality.
In some countries, particularly in the Middle East, laws regarding homosexuality, sex out of wedlock, and unmarried and unrelated opposite sex staying under the roof are strictly against the law.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration earlier reminded OFWs to refrain from performing sexual acts out of wedlock in the UAE because it’s strictly against the Sharia Law.
The Filipino Times previously reported that some homosexual OFWs were arrested and deported back to the Philippines for performing “homosexual acts” like cross-dressing.
Other recorded offenses committed by OFWs were murder, homicide, and attempted manslaughter, embezzlement and fraud, physical injury and assault, rape and sexual assault.
The DOF records also showed that there are 169 OFWs in UAE who are serving “fixed-term jail sentences,” the second country with most OFWs serving jail sentences behind Malaysia with a total of 1,927 OFWs.
Photo credit: Legal Secretary Journal
