Nancy Urges Gov’t: Implement Increase in OFWs’ Legal Aid Fund

“There is still so much to be done for our distressed OFWs. Let us go after the illegal recruiters but let us not forget that in order for them to get fair trial and due process, we must provide them with ample legal assistance.”

This was the appeal of Senator Nancy Binay, following the developments on the case of 30-year-old human trafficking victim Mary Jane Veloso.

Veloso was arrested, tried and sentenced to death in 2010, after being caught by authorities at Yogyakarta’s Adisucipto airport with 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her suitcase.

She maintains that she was a victim of her recruiter’s scheme to smuggle drugs into Indonesia and that she had no idea that the suitcase she brought with her contained heroin.

Veloso’s second appeal has been rejected by the Indonesian Supreme Court.

“There were reports that Veloso was not provided a lawyer and that she did not even have access to a translator while she was being interrogated by Indonesian authorities. Importante pong mabigyan ng sapat na tulong ang ating mga kababayan sa ibang bansa upang maipagtanggol naman nila ang kanilang mga sarili at upang maging patas naman ang trial nila,” the senator said.

“Ito nga po ang dahilan kung bakit nais nating mabigyan ng mas malaking pondo ang mga serbisyo para sa ating mga OFWs. Para po ito sa mga tulad ni Mary Jane na may kinakaharap na kaso sa ibang bansa,” Binay explained.

Binay has earlier pushed for additional funding for the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) legal assistance to P100 million from P30 million during the deliberations on the 2015 national budget. This was approved but was later subjected to “conditional implementation” in President Aquino’s veto message.

“Sana ay maintindihan na ng gobyerno kung bakit dapat taasan ang pondo para sa legal assistance sa ating mga kababayan sa ibang bansa. Huwag po nating hayaan na malagay sa alanganin ang buhay nilang mga nagsisikap sa ibang bansa upang maitaguyod ang kanilang mga pamilya,” she urged.

“Marami pa pong tulad ni Mary Jane na nasa death row sa ibang bansa. Kailangan po nila ng tulong natin upang magkaroon sila ng patas na trial doon. Kailangan po nila ng translator at mga lawyers upang sila ay maipagtanggol,” she said.

According to the DFA, there are 77 Filipinos on death row in other countries for various crimes.