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Wednesday, October 08, 2003
PDEA urged to probe drug trade in Baguio colleges
By Harley Palangchao
THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) was urged to look into the veracity of reports about shabu trade at the University of Baguio (UB) and within the city's university belt, where students allegedly purchase as much as one kilo of shabu in a week.
In a proposed resolution, Councilor Federico Mandapat Jr., expressed alarm over such reports based on the revelations of a National Police Commission (Napolcom) informant that UB students are regular clients of drug syndicates that have connections with ranking police officers.
"The informant revealed that among the syndicate's regular clients are UB students who would buy a kilo of shabu a week," Mandapat said.
He also stressed concern about the Napolcom informant's disclosure that if a drug test is to be conducted, very few UB students would pass with flying
colors.
UB President Virgilio Bautista, meanwhile, condemned such news report, saying the Napolcom informant could have mentioned "universities in Baguio" but was reported as University of Baguio.
"I cannot also imagine the Baguio police or the PDEA-CAR would believe that students are buying one kilo of shabu a week. It is next to impossible, the
authorities could have reported it to our attention," he said. "Besides, the revelation of the informant remains invalid as far as we are concern."
Bautista claimed there is another university in Baguio with higher student population that could be the potential target of drug syndicates.
Mandapat, on the other hand, said the report "is detrimental to Baguio's reputation as the educational center north of Manila, whose moral and natural
climates have been touted as most conducive to learning."
"The news report also puts UB, its faculty and students, in a negative light and may have considerably disastrous effects on the university's academic and moral reputation," he added.
The councilor stressed there is an urgent need to ascertain the facts of the informant's claims, "as this slur on the city's moral reputation may render
permanent damaged, resulting to considerable losses in terms of the city's economic and tourism returns."
Recently, an official of the Police Regional Office in the Cordilleras, disclosed that Baguio is fast becoming the trade center of small-time drug dealers from the Ilocos region and other areas in the lowlands.
Meanwhile, reports quoted the informant, who hails from Candon, Ilocos Sur, as saying that certain high-ranking PNP officials are also spearheading the
distribution of illegal drugs from PNP headquarters to Northern Luzon with college students as among their clients.
The informant implicated 14 ranking police officers in the country, including three in the city, who are allegedly members of this so-called big-time drug
syndicate.
But the Baguio City Police Office personnel denied any involvement in the illicit activity, saying the informant "has no other intention but to besmirch the reputation of all police officers he mentioned and the organization to which we belong."
(October 8, 2003 issue)
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