Source: PDI
JONES, Isabela, Philippines—Candles lit by relatives of condemned drug courier Sally Ordinario-Villanueva at her home here indicate they never lost hope as the hours ticked away toward her impending execution Wednesday.
At the very least, they were waiting for Sally's final words to be sent back to the town where she grew up.
Princess Mae Joy Villanueva, Sally's 12-year-old daughter, said she got the assurance of her grandparents, Basilisa and Geronimo, that they would bring home to her the recording of their very last conversation with her mother.
Sally's parents were scheduled to meet her in China at 9 a.m. prior to her execution by lethal injection.
If Chinese authorities allow the recording, Princess said, it would make up for the fact that she and her brother, Lexbert, 10, never got the chance to talk to their mother.
Princess, who will graduate salutatorian from the Tubar Elementary School on April 9, said she will sing Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” as an offering to her mother.
Sally's sister-in-law, Teresita Villanueva-Dumlao, of far-flung village of Tupax here said Wednesday was the "most difficult day in the lives of our relatives and the children of Sally.” The Villanueva clan had held their own vigil since March 29, praying for a miracle.
Dumlao had asked journalists who trooped to this town to “please spare them from further emotional stress.”
But Dumlao said she appreciated the help of Filipinos who have been praying for the three death row convicts.
“We still believe that she is innocent of the charges and I hope her children would recover from the trauma due to their mother’s ordeal,” she said.
Isabel Villanueva, Sally's mother-in-law, said she hoped news coverage of Sally's execution would not impact badly on the children. “The children will be the victims. We hope that you will spare them from further interviews because we are the ones shouldering the heavy burden of their tearful moments,” she said.
Princess said: “We are slowly accepting her fate although it is painful. That is why we did not go to China.”
The 12-year-old said she hoped her mother would get her favorite dish, “adobong isaw ng baboy,” which the family prepared for her, and four packs of crispy pork rind. Princess said she instructed her grandparents to make sure her mother got the food.
(Radio reports said Chinese authorities did not allow the food items to be taken into the woman’s cell.)
Earlier, Princess told the Inquirer she planned to pursue a law degree.
“The tragedy that befell my mother has been an eye-opener for me. I have to defend the poor and the oppressed,” she said.
But some family members have started to focus on the people they blame for Sally's tragedy.
Sally’s surrogate grandfather Eugenio Biare of Rizal village in the municipality of Alicia said he was furious at the woman Mapet Cortez, also known as Tita Cacayan, who is accused of handing Sally the luggage containing the heroin that led to Sally's death sentence.
Biare said he took care of Sally until she was old enough to enroll in high school.
The Isabela Catholic Diocese did not offer a common Mass for the three convicted drug mules. Instead priests said “individual private Masses” for them, said Ilagan Bishop Joseph Nacua in a text message.
Nacua said they had been offering prayers for the doomed Filipinos.
Father Ric Zeus Angobung, diocese chancellor, said they had been encouraging Isabela villagers to offer personal prayers for the three Filipinos.
In the municipality of Echague, councilors offered a minute of silence and said a prayer for Sally, who was born in the village of Gumbauan before the Villanueva family settled in Jones, where she grew up.
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JONES, Isabela, Philippines—Candles lit by relatives of condemned drug courier Sally Ordinario-Villanueva at her home here indicate they never lost hope as the hours ticked away toward her impending execution Wednesday.
At the very least, they were waiting for Sally's final words to be sent back to the town where she grew up.
Princess Mae Joy Villanueva, Sally's 12-year-old daughter, said she got the assurance of her grandparents, Basilisa and Geronimo, that they would bring home to her the recording of their very last conversation with her mother.
Sally's parents were scheduled to meet her in China at 9 a.m. prior to her execution by lethal injection.
If Chinese authorities allow the recording, Princess said, it would make up for the fact that she and her brother, Lexbert, 10, never got the chance to talk to their mother.
Princess, who will graduate salutatorian from the Tubar Elementary School on April 9, said she will sing Bryan Adams’ “Heaven” as an offering to her mother.
Sally's sister-in-law, Teresita Villanueva-Dumlao, of far-flung village of Tupax here said Wednesday was the "most difficult day in the lives of our relatives and the children of Sally.” The Villanueva clan had held their own vigil since March 29, praying for a miracle.
Dumlao had asked journalists who trooped to this town to “please spare them from further emotional stress.”
But Dumlao said she appreciated the help of Filipinos who have been praying for the three death row convicts.
“We still believe that she is innocent of the charges and I hope her children would recover from the trauma due to their mother’s ordeal,” she said.
Isabel Villanueva, Sally's mother-in-law, said she hoped news coverage of Sally's execution would not impact badly on the children. “The children will be the victims. We hope that you will spare them from further interviews because we are the ones shouldering the heavy burden of their tearful moments,” she said.
Princess said: “We are slowly accepting her fate although it is painful. That is why we did not go to China.”
The 12-year-old said she hoped her mother would get her favorite dish, “adobong isaw ng baboy,” which the family prepared for her, and four packs of crispy pork rind. Princess said she instructed her grandparents to make sure her mother got the food.
(Radio reports said Chinese authorities did not allow the food items to be taken into the woman’s cell.)
Earlier, Princess told the Inquirer she planned to pursue a law degree.
“The tragedy that befell my mother has been an eye-opener for me. I have to defend the poor and the oppressed,” she said.
But some family members have started to focus on the people they blame for Sally's tragedy.
Sally’s surrogate grandfather Eugenio Biare of Rizal village in the municipality of Alicia said he was furious at the woman Mapet Cortez, also known as Tita Cacayan, who is accused of handing Sally the luggage containing the heroin that led to Sally's death sentence.
Biare said he took care of Sally until she was old enough to enroll in high school.
The Isabela Catholic Diocese did not offer a common Mass for the three convicted drug mules. Instead priests said “individual private Masses” for them, said Ilagan Bishop Joseph Nacua in a text message.
Nacua said they had been offering prayers for the doomed Filipinos.
Father Ric Zeus Angobung, diocese chancellor, said they had been encouraging Isabela villagers to offer personal prayers for the three Filipinos.
In the municipality of Echague, councilors offered a minute of silence and said a prayer for Sally, who was born in the village of Gumbauan before the Villanueva family settled in Jones, where she grew up.
