Ecija Police: Sergio didn’t surrender; she voluntarily turned herself in

TO call Mary Jane Veloso’s alleged recruiter turning herself in to authorities a “surrender” is a misnomer, a Nueva Ecija provincial police official said Tuesday.

“She did not surrender. She voluntarily turned herself in to seek help from the police,” Supt. Reynaldo dela Cruz, Nueva Ecija police Deputy Provincial Director for Operations, said in a phone interview.

“She said she was receiving death threats. We sought help from a Public Attorney’s Office lawyer for legal opinion,” Cruz said.

In a report sent by Chief Inspector Cherry Lou Donato, Central Luzon regional police office spokesperson, it said 47-year-old Maria Kristina Sergio, went to Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office in Cabanatuan City at 10:30 a.m.

She claimed on a television interview that she is innocent of all allegations against her.

Donato said Sergio, also known as Mary Christine Gulles Pasadilla, went to the police with her live-in partner Julius Lacanilao and Lacalinao’s father, Ramon.

The report said she has been receiving death threats “through her cellphone and her Facebook account.”

Sergio also told the police that she was getting calls from anonymous persons cursing her and her family.

“She reiterated that she voluntarily appeared in this office for reason of her security including her family,” the report added.

Sergio surfaced after the National Bureau of Investigation filed before the Department of Justice on Monday charges for illegal recruitment, human trafficking and estafa against the couple and an African national known only as Ike.

No arrest warrant has been issued for Sergio.

Veloso’s execution by firing squad is scheduled for late Tuesday.

The 30-year-old mother of two was caught with 2.6 kilograms of heroin in her luggage at the Yogyakarta Airport in 2010. AC