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Monday, March 29, 2004
Vice guv to tell NBI what aides know
By KAREN M. FLORES & ELIAS O. BAQUERO
Sun.Star Staff Reporters
CEBU Vice Gov. John Gregory “John-john” Osmeña will present himself tomorrow before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 to clear his name in the pseudoephedrine controversy and reveal what three of his aides know.
But he won’t be bringing along his aides who have been linked to the P3.6-billion shipment of the regulated drug. When pressed for comment, he didn’t say why.
The vice governor, who is running for governor, said he already “looked into” the alleged involvement of three of his staff members in the consignee of the shipment and the role they played in its operation.
John-john yesterday spoke out to deny talks that he is withdrawing from the gubernatorial race because of the issues raised against him, saying his mother has come from the United States to campaign for him.
While no House inquiry can be done until after the May 10 elections, the NBI and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will continue their inquiry on the pseudoephedrine shipment.
PDEA 7 Director Gaudencio Pagaling Jr. said that as agreed during the command conference in Manila with PDEA Director General Anselmo Avenido, the NBI 7 shall continue the investigation and submit the results to PDEA.
As to talks about his withdrawal from the elections, John-john told Sun.Star in a phone interview that it would be “very chicken” of him to withdraw now, especially that his mother, Lucy Urgello-Miller, returned from the United States to support him.
“My mother didn’t fly halfway across the world to watch me withdraw. She will stand up for me if it becomes too difficult for me to stand up for myself,” he noted.
On the other hand, his father, reelectionist Sen. John “Sonny” Osmeña has washed his hands of John-john’s case by saying he has lost “control” over his son.
Neither is lawyer Adelino Sitoy, his runningmate, considering withdrawing, John-john said further.
“If they want to beat me, they have to do it in the polls on May 10. I intend to vindicate myself and the election is one way of showing my vindication against these baseless accusations against me,” John-john said.
There were already talks about plans for him to withdraw on March 25 yet, the first day of campaign for local candidates.
John-john has set an appointment to see Director Reynaldo Esmeralda of the NBI 7 at 11 a.m. tomorrow so he can give his statement on the ongoing investigation on the shipment of 1,740 kilos of pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in making shabu.
John-john said he didn’t wait for the NBI to invite him because he wants to clear his name in allegations that he is involved in Coastside Ventures Inc., the consignee of the controlled chemical shipment.
“This (the appointment) is at my instigation because I want to say my piece,” John-john said, referring to his move not to wait for the NBI 7 to invite him.
John-john clarified that what he did was not an investigation but a mere “looking into” the cases of his three aides who have been named officers in Coastside documents with the Securities and Exchange Commision.
Osmeña declined to reveal what he has found out so far because he would rather let the NBI clear him.
“The media has no power to clear me although all the accusations so far have only been in the media. These sniping attacks against me have been made from the cover of anonymity,” he noted.
The vice governor would not say either if he conducted interviews or examined documents.
Three of John-john aides—Joebert Cuesta, Rorela Villegas and Ma. Rowena Roldan, all employees of the vice governor’s office—allegedly had different roles in Coastside Ventures.
Cuesta was identified as a former president of Coastside Ventures; Villegas represented the firm in a lease contract for a warehouse in Mandaue City where the shipment was to be delivered; while Roldan was identified as one of Coastside’s stockholders.
Osmeña’s spokesman Edgar Gica, meanwhile, said the pseudoephedrine issue is part of a set-up against the vice governor’s candidacy “to put him in a bad light.”
Their camp has received reports that the shipment had been here more than a month ago and was only made to appear as having been discovered just recently. Gica said Osmeña’s detractors made this possible “in connivance with line officials.”
“The NBI and PDEA should not make any conclusion on the basis of papers they received from sources that they did not even dare to disclose,” he said in statement sent to Sun.Star Cebu.
Rep. Antonio Cuenco, the chairperson of the house committee on dangerous drugs, said the NBI 7 should pursue the investigation on the pseudoephedrine case because the PDEA, the lead agency tasked in the case, is undermanned.
Cuenco said he will direct the PDEA and NBI to summon District Collector Billy Bibit of the Bureau of Customs Port of Cebu to present all the Customs officials who were offered money in exchange for the release of the shipment.
When sought for comment, NBI 7 Director Reynaldo Esmeralda said Avenido must appoint a task force commander for better coordination.
Avenido told Sun.Star Cebu that he named Director Ajer Untog of the PDEA intelligence and investigation service as the coordinating officer of the case.
Avenido said the investigation is split into two areas: in Cebu where the seizure of the pseudoephedrine was done, and in Manila where some records on the shipment consignee can be secured.
Coastside Ventures was identified as the consignee of the 1,740 kilos of the chemical that arrived from Shanghai, China last March 5. However, the company has no special permit to import more than 100 kilos of the substance per year, a government agency said.
Pseudoephedrine is a main ingredient of shabu, an illegal drug. It is also used by pharmaceutical companies in making anti-asthma drugs, among others.
(March 29, 2004 issue)
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