Sergio’s drug syndicate, Pakistan chopper crash, Pacquiao ‘sore loser’ | The wRap

Today on Rappler:

• Mary Jane Veloso’s alleged recruiter – supposedly a member of an international drug syndicate
• Taliban claims responsibility for a helicopter crash that kills ambassadors from the Philippines and Norway
• Floyd Mayweather Jr takes back his offer of a rematch, calling Manny Pacquiao a “sore loser”

DOJ: SERGIO WAS PART OF INT’L DRUG RING
The alleged recruiter of Mary Jane Veloso is supposedly part of an international drug syndicate that operates within and outside the Philippines.
In a statement, the Justice Department says Maria Cristina Sergio, along with co-accused Julius Lacanilao recruited “willing and/or unwilling participants” in the drug trade and were drug mules as early as 2010.
Sergio and Lacanilao lived together in a town an hour away from the Velosos.
Lacanilao’s father was Veloso’s godfather in marriage.
Veloso’s parents say this made it easier for both Sergio and Lacanilao to gain Veloso’s trust when they offered her a fast-tracked job placement in Malaysia as a domestic worker.
Veloso used to work as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia before she was meted the death penalty in Indonesia over drug smuggling charges.
Her execution has been delayed pending legal action against her illegal recruiters in the Philippines.
But Sergio’s lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office or PAO Persida Acosta denies claims her client confessed her involvement in the drug trade to investigators.
In another development, the National Bureau of Investigation is looking into another one of Sergio’s supposed victims who has gone missing.
Rosalie Pascual was reportedly recruited by Sergio and left for Bahrain on April 28.
She has not been heard from since.
Veloso is not the only Filipino in prison abroad for illegal drug trafficking.
In Hong Kong, two Filipino women face charges – one for trying to smuggle 1.8 kilograms of suspected cocaine worth at least HK$1.7 million or US$219,000 at Hong Kong International Airport in February
and another identified as Monica Eden last December for carrying 2 kilos of cocaine.

TYPHOON DODONG ACCELERATES; CATANDUANES UNDER SIGNAL NO. 2
State weather bureau PAGASA declares the province of Catanduanes under public storm warning signal number 2 as Typhoon Dodong or Noul accelerates.
As of 4 pm Friday, Dodong is located 510 kilometers east of Sorsogon City.
It maintained strength, with maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 185 km/h.
The typhoon is now moving west northwest at 20 km/h, with heavy to intense rainfall estimated within its 300-km diameter.
Areas under public storm warning signal number 1 are Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Quezon, Polillo Island, Aurora, Quirino, Isabela, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar

PH, NORWAY ENVOYS KILLED IN PAKISTAN CHOPPER CRASH
The ambassadors of the Philippines and Norway are among the six people killed in a helicopter crash in Pakistan on Friday, May 8.
Domingo Lucenario, the Philippine envoy, and Leif Larsen of Norway are killed when the helicopter carrying them crashed into a school with children inside, in northern Pakistan.
Also dead are the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, the chopper’s two pilots, and one crew member while 13 other passengers were killed.
Pakistan’s army spokesman Asim Bajwa says the convoy of three helicopters were carrying a delegation of foreign diplomats to Pakistan’s Gilgit-Balitistan territory, which is part of the disputed Kashmir region.
A passenger, who requested anonymity, says “It was a diplomatic trip with members of 37 countries in total.”
The Taliban claims they downed the helicopter as part of its plot to kill Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Taliban spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani says “A special group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had prepared a special plan to target Nawaz Sharif during his visit but he survived because he was travelling in another helicopter.”
The injured are air-lifted to a military hospital in Gilgit, the region’s administrative capital, some 50 kilometers to the southwest.

MERALCO RATES DOWN IN MAY
Meralco subscribers’ electricity bills for the month of May will go down by 70 centavos per kilowatt hour.
The drop is mainly due to lower generation charge from lower prices from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market or WESM, independent power producers, and a price reduction from the National Power Corporation.
Power obtained from the WESM decreased because power plants had less frequent outages.
The Luzon grid remained on “normal” state throughout the period of the Malampaya shutdown.

NO REMATCH FOR ‘SORE LOSER’ PACQUIAO – MAYWEATHER
Floyd Mayweather Jr withdraws his offer of a rematch with Manny Pacquiao, saying the Filipino boxer is a “sore loser” and “a coward.”
Mayweather, who won by unanimous decision on May 2, says Pacquiao knows he lost.
He says “If you lost, accept the loss and say, ‘Mayweather, you were the better fighter.’”
Mayweather adds, he “lost a lot of respect” for Pacquiao for what he sees are excuses for the Filipino boxer’s loss.
He also backtracks on giving Pacquiao a rematch in a year’s time after the Filipino representative recovers from a shoulder surgery.
Mayweather says “Did I text Stephen A. Smith and say I will fight him again? Yeah, but I change my mind.” – Rappler.com

For those on desktop, click on the links on your screen.
You can click on the tabs below to go to a story in the video.
And for those on smartphones and tablets, the links can be found below the video.

Production Staff