Nurse: I refused to pay their corruption money

An Irishman held in the Philippines for alleged drug offences spoke yesterday of his ordeal at the hands of a corrupt legal system that has forced him to remain there under effective house arrest for the past two years.

“I refused to pay their corruption money,” said Eanna Ó Cochláin, a 55-year-old psychiatric nurse from Cork.

In July 2013, he was convicted of smuggling 0.38g of cannabis through Laoag International Airport. He is convinced the drug was planted on him by corrupt police officials.