Flor Contemplacion sons get life for drug pushing

A Laguna court has found the three sons of executed overseas Filipino worker Flor Contemplacion guilty of drug peddling and sentenced them to life imprisonment. In a 14-page decision last week, Judge Agripino Morga of the San Pablo City Regional Trial Court Branch 32 convicted Sandrex Contemplacion, 37, and twins Jon-Jon and Joel, 30, for violation of Section 5 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2002. In an interview with GMA News Online on Tuesday, Fred Alon — RTC officer-in-charge and legal researcher — said court also ordered each of the brothers to pay a P500,000 penalty. “The decision is not final yet. The convicts can appeal the decision. Actually, this is an automatic appeal," Alon said. In a country that considers its migrant workers as modern-day heroes, Flor’s execution in Singapore on March 17, 1995 became a national issue and even earned the government criticisms for having been unable to prevent the execution.

Contemplacion was sentenced to death for the killing of fellow Filipino domestic helper Delia Maga and her three-year-old ward. Since then, she has become the face of Filipino mothers who leave their children in the Philippines for better paying jobs abroad. The Contemplacion brothers were arrested in a buy-bust operation in October 2005 as they were selling methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu to narcotics agents posing as buyers.The boys have since been detained at the San Pablo City Jail. In 2008, Flor’s widower, Efren Contemplacion, and his live-in partner were also arrested for possession of illegal drugs. — KBK/VS, GMA News