Jinggoy: Find brains behind heroin smuggling

Government authorities should start looking for certain individuals or groups of people who prodded the three convicted Filipinos to smuggle drugs to China, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said Sunday. Ramon Credo, 42, and Sally Ordinario, 32, smuggled more than 4 kgs each of heroin, while Elizabeth Batain, 38, was arrested with almost 7 kgs in China. Their executions by lethal injection were postponed by Chinese authorities last Friday. "Dapat tutukan ngayon ng gobyerno kung sino ang nagpaalis at nagpapadala ng kontrabando sa mga Pilipinong ito," Estrada said in an interview on radio dzBB. "They are not overseas Filipino workers. They were used by certain individuals to smuggle drugs to China," the senator said, referring to the three Filipinos convicted of drug trafficking. Estrada, the Senate President pro tempore, said it may be tough for the Philippine government to search for the masterminds, but authorities must learn from this "saddening" experience. This is the first time that Filipinos were sentenced to be executed in China for drug trafficking charges in the 36 years of Philippine-China diplomatic relations. Credo and Ordinario were supposed to be executed by lethal injection in Xiamen this Feb. 21, while Batain was expected to be executed Feb. 22 in Shenzhen . Apart from the three Filipinos whose death sentences were deferred over the weekend, some 500 Filipinos — mostly women — are still languishing in various jails abroad for drug trafficking, including 227 in China, according to Department of Foreign Affairs data. The other Filipinos, known as drug mules, are mostly in the Middle East and neighboring Southeast Asian countries. Proper handling Sen. Franklin Drilon said the stay of execution of the three Filipinos in China shows the "Aquino administration's proper handling of the bilateral relations of the country with China." Drilon pointed out that bilateral relations between the Philippines and China, the world's second largest economy, is important. "We need to strengthen this," he added. The former Senate President also gave Vice-President Jejomar Binay credit "for effectively delivering the unified message of all Filipinos" to save the three Filipinos from imminent death. — Jesse Edep/VS, GMA News