Pinay might face death in Malaysia over drug case

Another Filipino abroad might face death sentence over a drug case, this time in Malaysia. But Filipina college lecturer Aida Dizon Garcia, 51, pleaded not guilty to charges of bringing in 11.9 kg of cannabis last November. The charge was read to her by a Filipino court interpreter, Malaysian news site The Star reported Friday. Garcia was arrested around 5:30 a.m. of Nov. 27 last year near the south-bound toll plaza along Malaysia's North-South Expressway. If convicted, she faces the mandatory death penalty. The report said Garcia then asked for a court-appointed lawyer, claiming that she could not afford to hire one. Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin asked for the case to be re-mentioned to enable Garcia to be represented. Judicial Commissioner Ahmad Nasfy Yassin fixed April 20 for re-mention. Garcia, who had apparently boarded an express bus in Kuala Lumpur and was heading south, was arrested by a team from the Bukit Aman narcotics division. The news about Garcia's case came less than a week after three Filipino drug mules were executed in China for smuggling illegal drugs into the country in 2008. — LBG, GMA News