MANILA, Philippines – Two female babies of Filipino women convicted of illegal drug-related charges in China arrived in Manila Wednesday night from Guangzhou.

Rosebeth Villapando’s 11-month-old baby and Karren Andojar’s 14-month-old were accompanied on the flight back home by representatives from the Philippine Consulate General in Guangzhou.

"All these is but one of the many facets of the efforts of the Department in assisting Filipino nationals abroad who are in distress. For this particular case, it has more meaning to the people of the Consulate General and the DFA-OUMWA because those that were saved were innocent 11-month and 14-month-old babies,” said Enrico Fos, Executive Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs' (DFA-OUMWA).

The babies were welcomed by Fos and representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), as well as the babies' relatives in Manila.

Chinese authorities nabbed Villapando and Andojar in Youyiguan Port, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China in separate occasions on September 26 and 27, 2008 for suspected smuggling of illegal drugs.  

Andojar and Villapando were found carrying 1,350 grams and 3,741.5 grams of heroin, respectively. They were both pregnant at the time of the arrest. They were convicted by the High People's Court on 21 January 2009 and sentenced to serve life imprisonment.

“While their respective mothers remain in detention and could not be helped at the moment, the babies needed to be saved from the horrible experience of being in prison," Fos added.

The 2 believed that pregnant women caught smuggling drugs in China will not be detained by authorities and will be immediately repatriated. They also admitted that they accepted the offer to carry drugs for a fee from members of international drug syndicates.

Also present to welcome the babies at the airport were representatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Roquito Ablan Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs.

“These babies are innocent and face an uncertain future growing up in a foreign land while their mothers languish in jail, which is why we worked hard to bring them home to their families,” Ablan said.

According to Ablan, the mothers are just 2 of the nearly 200 Filipino women also awaiting their sentence after having fallen prey to drug syndicates abroad.

He added that many Filipino women who end up jobless and penniless overseas are lured into accepting offers to become drug mules for drug syndicates in exchange for fees of up to $3,000 per transaction.