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Thursday, April 22, 2004
PDEA subpoenas John-john
By GARRY CABOTAJE Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Elias O. Baquero
THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 finally subpoenaed Vice Gov. John Gregory Osmeña and his American friend Dirk D’ Hulst to shed light on the shipment of 1,500 kilos of pseudoephedrine, a shabu ingredient.
Senior Insp. Prospero Bona, PDEA intelligence and investigation service officer, said they had to summon the vice governor so he can explain why the names of his staff members appeared in the documents of the Coastside Ventures Inc., the shipment consignee.
Inquiry
“We’re not accusing anyone here yet. This is only an inquiry to clarify things,” said Bona after Ma. Fe Puntanar, a staff member of the vice governor, received the summons at 2 p.m. yesterday.
Puntanar also received the subpoena for Hulst as the PDEA 7 could no longer locate the foreigner in his rented room at Maryville Condominiums on C. Rosal St., Cebu City.
Authorities learned that Osmeña also used to live in Maryville Condominiums.
The summons stated that both Osmeña and Hulst must appear at the PDEA 7 headquarters in Lahug, Cebu City at 10 a.m. today.
Meanwhile, Joebert Cuesta, a staff member of Osmeña’s office, showed up at the PDEA 7 but investigators told him to come back at 10 a.m. today with a lawyer.
Bona said they could not get a statement from Cuesta because he came alone.
A PDEA certification dated Sept. 16, 2003 named Cuesta as Coastside company president, which the latter had denied.
Two other Osmeña staff members linked to the pseudoephedrine shipment have also said in their statements to PDEA that their signatures in the Coastside documents were forged.
Permit
Importers of controlled chemicals like pseudoephedrine need a permit from PDEA because the substance can be used in making the illegal drug shabu.
Rep. Antonio Cuenco said PDEA Director General Anselmo Avenido assured him that the agency will ban or suspend the importation of chemicals used to make shabu.
PDEA listed Coastside as a licensed importer of chemicals but when its
pseudoephedrine shipment was seized, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 could not even find the address it gave.
Exemption
With the ban or suspension, big and reputable companies such as Abbott Laboratories and Mercury Drug Inc. may request for exemption if they will use the chemicals to manufacture drugs and medicines.
“We trust that these companies will really use what they import for the making of medicines, so we will allow them to import in accordance with the law,” Cuenco said.
Cuenco also agreed with Avenido that PDEA should refrain from issuing even a basic permit to any company without investigation on its background.
PDEA is now tracing who are behind Coastside Ventures.
A three-man PDEA team led by Supt. Romeo Villanueva formally served the subpoenas in Vice Governor Osmeña’s office at 2 p.m. yesterday.
It was earlier reported that Hulst, a businessman, was the one who paid for the Coastside’s monthly rental.
Coastside has a lease contract with J. King and Sons Company Inc. to rent the latter’s warehouse in Mandaue City, where the pseudoephedrine cargo was supposed to be stored.
But Edgar Gica, Osmeña’s lawyer, warned PDEA, the NBI, Gov. Pablo Garcia and Cuenco that they can be held criminally liable for “fishing for evidence,” through his client, in the guise of conducting an investigation with the use of falsified and forged documents.
(April 22, 2004 issue)
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