Recruiter returns to DOJ for illegal drug, kidnapping raps

MANILA, Philippines - Tita Cacayan, the alleged recruiter of executed Filipino drug courier Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, returned to the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday and attended the preliminary investigation on the other charges filed against her for allegedly recruiting Villanueva’s brother Jason Ordinario also as a drug courier.

Prosecutors, however, gave Cacayan more time to answer the charges against her because she had no lawyer.

Assistant State Prosecutors Michael Vito Cruz and Stewart Mariano gave the respondent until April 25 to submit her counter-affidavit.

Cacayan told the prosecutors that she was not ready to submit her defense since she only received the copy of Jason’s complaint during the hearing on Villanueva’s case.

The prosecutors stressed that the respondent would no longer have a second chance if she fails to submit her counter-affidavit in the next hearing.

Cacayan said she would deny the charges of kidnapping and transport of illegal drugs filed by Jason through the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

“I know him (Jason) very well. We were together in Macau before,” she said.

In his testimony before the CIDG, Jason said he was made to swallow 34 pieces of capsules filled with heroin that were about the size of a shotgun shell.

He said he felt uncomfortable and lost his voice for about a month after swallowing the drugs. He said he was offered $4,000 just to bring the contraband to China.

Jason said that he would be initially paid $500. He would go to Macau and then to Guangzhou in China where he would be paid the remaining $3,500.

The CIDG said that Jason’s parents told them members of the drug syndicate kidnapped their son.

Authorities earlier arrested two syndicate members who were already charged with kidnapping and transporting of illegal drugs. The hearings are still ongoing and no bail has been set.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had bared that five more complainants have come out to file similar charges against Cacayan.

Cacayan surrendered to the NBI last April 1, saying she had been receiving death threats. She explained yesterday that she was scared after some people approached her and “introduced themselves as policemen.”

Officials explained that Cacayan remains under the protective custody of the NBI and she could not be considered detained yet because her case is still at the preliminary investigation stage.

The recruiter is expected to return to the DOJ on April 18 when she is required to submit her counter-affidavit on the complaint of Villanueva.

Villanueva’s family filed charges against Cacayan for her alleged violation of RA 9208, the Anti-Human Trafficking in Persons Act.

In her affidavit, Villanueva identified Cacayan as the recruiter who handed her the luggage that later turned out to contain heroin when she arrived in China in 2008.

She was one of the three drug couriers executed in China last March 30. The other two were Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain.

She said that she met Cacayan when she was still working in Macau as a domestic helper. When her stint in Macau ended and she returned to her province, she had occasion to again meet with Cacayan, who also goes by the name Mapet Cortez.

Cacayan then asked Villanueva to come to China to help out in the cell phone store run by her boss. The courier was supposed to carry cell phone units from China to be sold in the Philippines to take advantage of the Christmas shopping rush.

Villanueva said she accepted this offer as she was jobless at that time and since Cacayan promised that her boss would cover all her travel expenses and accommodation outside the Philippines.

The suspect likewise facilitated the processing of her passport and application for a Chinese visa with a travel agency somewhere in Dimasalang, Manila.

The alleged recruiter also gave her $500 as pocket money as well as the name and number of the contact person in China, with the instruction that if Villanueva could successfully get in touch with the contact person and do as that person says, her boss would pay her a monthly salary of P25,000.

However, Villanueva was not successful in getting in touch with the contact person in China because Chinese authorities apprehended her upon arrival at the Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport on Dec. 24, 2008.