Aquino offers sympathies to families of 3 Pinoys executed in China

President Aquino on Wednesday offered "our deepest sympathies" to the families of the Filipinos executed in China, saying the three can be considered victims of drug traffickers and a society that has nothing to offer in terms of gainful employment. "Today, Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario, and Elizabeth Batain were executed in China after being convicted of drug trafficking. As fellow Filipinos, we offer our deepest sympathies to the families that they have left behind," President Benigno Aquino III said in a statement Wednesday. He said his administration pleaded with the Chinese government to commute the death sentences to life imprisonment consistent with the laws and values of our country. "Unfortunately, the Chinese government did not agree, and we must respect their legal processes," he said. Despite this, Aquino asked Filipinos not to allow the situation to affect the Philippines' historic friendship with the Chinese. He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development has been providing grief counseling to the families of the three Filipinos. "They will also be provided assistance for their education and livelihood," Mr. Aquino said. The three were convicted of drug trafficking but they can also be considered as "victims of unscrupulous recruiters and drug traffickers, and victims of a society that could not provide for them enough gainful employment in their home country," the President said. Since the beginning of his term, the administration has been going after drug syndicates, he noted. In the first quarter of his term, the National Capital Region Police Office has seized P1.4 billion worth of shabu, shut down two shabu laboratories, and arrested 23 foreign nationals involved in the drug trade, according to the President. He further said that the recruiter of Ordinario-Villanueva has already been identified and charges have been filed against her before the Department of Justice. "Operations are still ongoing to capture the rest of these drug traffickers," he said. Mr. Aquino pointed out that the three were part of a bigger problem because they were not the only people that have suffered the same fate. "All over the world, particularly in the Middle East, there are other Filipinos languishing in jails." He said the ultimate goal of his administration is to create a situation where people are not pressured to resort to these things and will be able to find enough gainful employment in the Philippines. "Let us remain steadfast and focused on this goal, for it is the ultimate means to bringing a better life for all," he said. – VS, GMA News