Executed Pinay's husband surfaces

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines  – Barely two days after his wife was executed for drug trafficking in China, Hilarion Villanueva, who had since avoided the public, finally surfaced in his hometown in Jones, Isabela Friday.

Villanueva’s decision to come out coincided with the surrender of his wife’s recruiter to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to seek protection due to death threats she had been receiving.

Tita Cacayan sought the NBI’s protection even as she plans to file a counter affidavit at the Department of Justice next week to belie allegations that she was the cause of Villanueva’s execution.

Villanueva said he stayed at the residence of a relative in Bauang, La Union, to avoid hearing any news about his wife’s execution.

“This is more than I could possibly bear, that is why I went into seclusion after her scheduled execution was confirmed by the government,” he said.

He also admitted that he went into hiding to protect his children from men who were looking for him, whom he suspected to be members of the drug syndicate who victimized his wife into becoming a drug mule.

Villanueva, a public transport driver, said he also busied himself all the time his wife was implicated in drug trafficking in 2008, especially when her death verdict was promulgated, to avoid having to listen to any news about her case.

Now, he admitted having no recourse but to surface and accept what happened and attend to his wife’s wake and burial. He said he also has obligations to their children.

The bereaved family is expecting Sally Villanueva’s remains to arrive anytime next week in Echague, Isabela, where the family agreed to hold the wake.

The Villanueva couple and their two children, aged 12 and 7, had stayed in Echague’s Gumabaoan village for years after they were able to avail of a housing unit there sponsored by Habitat International.

However, Villanueva and their children decided to leave their abode for his native Tupax village in Jones town when his wife was tried for drug trafficking.

Sally’s eldest daughter Princess Joy, who is graduating as salutatorian in elementary on April 6, said the tragedy that struck their family made her decide more than ever that she wanted to become a lawyer.

No more bangkang papel legacy

Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman yesterday gave assurance that Villanueva’s children, and that of Elizabeth Batain and Ramon Credo, would not suffer the same fate as the children of Flor Contemplacion, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for drug peddling.

In an interview over radio dzRH, Soliman said they would be implementing an “institutionalized” scholarship assistance program for the orphaned children.

By adopting an “institutionalized” program, the children of Villanueva, Batain and Credo can get assurance that they would continue to receive support from the government even after the term of President Aquino expires in 2016.

“We should be institutional (in our approach) so that even after we are gone, the program would continue. In the case of one of the children of Sally Villanueva, (she) would even graduate as a salutatorian,” Soliman said.

Apart from providing educational assistance to the children, Aquino also gave instructions that the government should also give livelihood assistance to the immediate families of these three executed Filipinos.

The DSWD chief said that they would attend to these things after the wake and burial of Villanueva, Batain and Credo and would also inquire as to who would take care of the children.

“We would assist them properly. Our priority is the welfare of the children,” she said.

Social workers continue to be assigned to the three families, to give them counseling and family therapy.

Soliman recalled that the institutionalized program worked for the three “bangkang papel” (paper boat) boys, who were the first scholars of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2001. At that time, Soliman was the DSWD secretary.

“In fact one of these boys already graduated from school,” she added.

Not everybody happy

However, some OFWs lamented the government’s seeming “posturing stance” to gain media mileage.

“It’s unfair to an OFW like me to hear that someone who was meted death penalty for a crime that was proven is receiving graces from the government, while there are so many not only here in Saudi who are sleeping under bridges and not guilty of anything but are being arrested and not getting any help,” Bon Laciste, an OFW in Riyadh, said in Filipino.

“Sometimes it is better to be a drug trafficker because if you get caught and sentenced to death your family will be more secured because your children will be given scholarship,” he added.

Lee Agatep, the father of nurse Lalaine who was among those killed when the CTV building in Christchurch City in New Zealand collapsed following an earthquake, lamented that the government did not extend adequate assistance to soothe the suffering of their family.

But he said he understands the situation since his daughter was not a documented worker registered with the OWWA.

Casiño wants PAO lawyers

Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño pushed for the tapping of lawyers from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) to help in giving legal aid to distressed OFWs.

Teodoro said he made the proposal in response to the alarming cases of Filipino drug mules and “information indicating violations of due process and gross failure to provide adequate legal services to our nationals.”

“I’m calling on the Public Attorney’s Office to form one or two special panels to conduct a legal audit of cases involving Filipinos abroad, especially those facing life or death sentences,” Casiño said.

He said not only does the PAO have the mandate to do this under Republic Act 9406, which he authored in 2006, but it also has the capacity to tap their counterparts and other legal aid networks in various countries to assist government laws in responding to distressed OFWs.

He said he would be meeting with PAO chief Persida Acosta next week to come up with a working arrangement with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to facilitate such scheme.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Philippine government would also extend assistance to Aida Garcia, a Filipina facing possible execution over drug-related charges in Malaysia.

“We know the specifics of her case and the DFA is keeping tabs on developments,” she said. “The case is in court. The DFA through our Philippine embassy in Malaysia is watching the progress of the case.”

Valte said the efforts against drug pushers and syndicates should not just be exerted by the executive branch alone.

However, she said there was no need for a drug czar at this time even if the government would want to remove the tag on the Philippines as a transshipment point of drugs.

She said there was an inter-agency body already handling the matter and that the Palace would study the recommendation of the DFA to strengthen the inter-agency body by adding at least two new members. - Charlie Lagasca, Raymund Catindig, Sandy Araneta, Paolo Romero, Evelyn Macairan, Aurea Calica