Kin of executed drug mules in China return home to PHL

The relatives of two of the three Filipino drug mules executed on Wednesday arrived from China before midnight on Wednesday. A report of radio dzBB on Thursday said the families of Sally Ordinario-Villanueva and Ramon Credo arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport aboard a China Southern Airlines flight at 10:51 p.m. on Wednesday. Teams from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) fetched the family members at the tarmac and transported them directly to their homes, the report said. The relatives of the third executed drug mule, Elizabeth Batain, are due to arrive in Manila from China on Thursday. The radio report quoted Ordinario-Villanueva's father Geronimo as saying the remains of Sally will be brought to the Philippines within one week. On the other hand, Ramon's ashes were already brought home by his brother Paulo from China on Wednesday. The Credo family asked the media to respect their privacy and allow them to mourn quietly. Three Pinoys executed On Wednesday, the three Filipinos who were convicted of drug trafficking in China have been executed, Vice President Jejomar Binay announced in an interview over GMA News TV. "Malungkot na araw... Patay na po 'yung tatlong kababayan natin," Binay said in an interview over GMA News TV. Two of the convicted Filipinos, Villanueva and Credo, were subjected to lethal injections in Xiamen. Batain was executed in Shenzhen. All the executions occurred after the convicts were read their death sentence at 9:40 a.m. (Manila time) on Wednesday. The three Filipinos — Credo, 42; Batain, 38; and Villanueva, 32 — were originally scheduled to be executed last February 20 and 21. The executions were put on hold following the humanitarian visit to Beijing of Binay, who is also the presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers’ concerns. The Supreme People’s Court of China affirmed the death sentences on the three last February 11. Binay went to Beijing upon orders from President Benigno Aquino III on Feb. 18. Ordinario-Villanueva was convicted for smuggling 4,110 grams of heroin on Dec. 24, 2008 into Xiamen, while Credo was convicted for smuggling 4,113 grams of heroin on Dec. 28, 2008 in the same city. Batain, meanwhile, was convicted for smuggling 6,800 grams of heroin on May 24, 2008, in Shenzhen. Under the Chinese criminal code, smuggling of 50 grams of heroin or any narcotic drug into China is punishable by death. – VVP, GMA News