Thursday, October 05, 2006 Arrested SK head willing to take drug test
THE arrested Sangguni-ang Kabataan (SK) chairman of Barangay Ermita, Cebu City is willing to undergo a drug test if only to prove that he is not involved in the shabu trade.
In a brief interview with reporters at the stockade yesterday, Carlo Magno Tude, 21, reiterated his innocence.
Tude, who was arrested in a buy-bust by the operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) last Sunday night, has described the allegation as a mere fabrication.
Tude’s 14-year-old storekeeper was also arrested.
Tude was allegedly the one who received the two P100 bills used by the CIIB operatives in buying a small pack of shabu.
To quite if Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta, in an interview with radio dyLA, said he is willing to resign from his post if Tude is found positive in the drug test.
Rupinta has vouched for the integrity of Tude and swore that the latter could not have been involved in illegal drugs.
He said he will have an independent drug testing center verify the result if the police drug test on Tude turns out positive.
While he welcomed Tude’s willingness to undergo the drug test, Cebu City Police Director Melvin Gayotin said it will not have any bearing on the case because the youth leader was charged with selling of shabu, not using drugs.
“It does not always follow that if you’re a pusher, you’re also a user,” Gayotin said, adding that the police did not accuse Tude of being a drug user.
On Rupinta’s claim that the problem of illegal drugs in the barangay is no longer rampant and there were only three people peddling shabu, Gayotin said as far as the monitoring of the police is concerned there are still more than 10 people involved in illegal drugs.
“I am not dependent on his (Rupinta) evaluation. I am relying on the information gathered by my operatives,” Gayotin said.
Gayotin agreed, though, that the problem of illegal drugs in Ermita, which remains in the top five barangays that are heavily affected by illegal drugs, has decreased compared with the previous years.
He attributed this to the persistent crackdown of the police against illegal drugs. (JST)
