By Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—Authorities have arrested an official of a travel agency who allegedly facilitated the flight of a convicted Filipino drug courier on death row in China, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.
Jose Batnag, 49, operations manager of Winluck Travel and Tours, was accosted by operatives of the Inter Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City around 6:30 p.m. Monday, according to assistant city prosecutor Jonathan Lledo.
Lledo, IACAT chairman, said Batnag was arrested after airport and immigration personnel off-loaded four Filipino women who were purportedly about to fly to Canton and Macau in China to work as domestic helpers using tourist visas.
“He was facilitating the exit of four women who were off-loaded due to incomplete travel documents,” Lledo said in a news briefing.
He said IACAT and the National Bureau of Investigation agents had been closely watching the operations of Winluck after receiving intelligence reports that the same travel agency assisted Sally Ordinario-Villanueva in entering China three years ago.
Villanueva was scheduled to die by lethal injection in China two weeks ago, but a timely intercession of the Philippine government prompted Chinese officials to defer her execution indefinitely.
“We are now checking reports on Batnag’s previous records to check if he was really responsible in sending (Villanueva) to China,” Lledo said.
Batnag was charged with violation of Republic Act 9208, otherwise known as the Anti-Human Trafficking Act, and Republic Act 8042, or the Migrant Workers Act.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
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