979 FILIPINAS IN FOREIGN JAILS ON DRUG CHARGES

AN administration lawmaker on Monday expressed alarm at reports that
979 Filipino women have been languishing in foreign jails for serving
as cocaine couriers.

Lakas Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri of Bukidnon disclosed that Filipino
women in foreign countries including Argentina, Denmark, Ecuador and
Pakistan were serving time for acting as "mules," or couriers of drug
syndicates.

"Finding where Filipino women are detained for drug-related offenses
is a course in world geography," he said, citing a Department of
Foreign Affairs report.

Zubiri, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Relations, called
on the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to include in its
predeparture orientation seminars a warning to OFWs not to carry
luggage for others because these may be filled with illegal drugs.

He said many of those arrested were lured by the "big bucks paid for
serving as mules," with rates going as high as $25,000, according to a
report from the foreign affairs department.

"Offers to serve as drug couriers allegedly vary from $15,000 a kilo
to as high as $25,000 depending on the drug's destination," Zubiri
said. Other unsuspecting victims agreed to carry luggage for others
with cocaine hidden inside the bags.

Most Filipino women arrested for drug trafficking abroad were
sweet-talked into accepting padala (package) from friendly foreigners,
Zubiri said.

This naivete has prompted Philippine diplomats in the Scandinavian
countries to ask labor officials in Manila to counsel OFWs in their
predeparture orientation seminar not to accept luggage from casual
acquaintances.