Saturday, October 07, 2006 Mayor urges SK chief to resign after drug arrest
CEBU CITY Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday suggested that Barangay Ermita’s Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairman resign, following the youth leader’s arrest for allegedly peddling illegal drugs.
“He is supposed to be a model for the youth,” the mayor said.
Asked why he wanted Carlo Magno Tude, 21, to step down when his guilt has yet to be proven, the mayor replied: “Dili siya mauwaw? (Isn’t he ashamed?)”
He also said it is Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo Rupinta’s prerogative to vouch for Tude’s innocence.
Rupinta earlier said he is “101 percent sure” Tude is innocent, and even said he will quit as Ermita barangay captain if Tude is found positive of using illegal drugs.
He said the PNP and a private testing center will separately conduct the test on Tude, who willing to undergo a drug test if only to prove that he is not involved in the shabu trade.
He, however, set as a condition that he should have his lawyer as witness.
The mayor, though, said Tude is just “stalling.”
No bearing
“What is he trying to say, that policemen are trying to frame an SK chairman?” the mayor also said of Rupinta.
For him, a drug test does not have any bearing on the case Tude is facing.
Cebu City Police Director Melvin Gayotin earlier said the same thing, because the youth leader was charged with selling, not using, illegal drug.
“I think he should resign. He doesn’t have to be a drug addict to be accused of drug trafficking,” the mayor said of Tude.
Tude refused to entertain questions when reporters sought his comment on the mayor’s statements. He was still detained at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) stockade as of yesterday afternoon.
He was arrested in a buy-bust by the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) last Sunday night, along with his family’s 14-year-old storekeeper.
He was allegedly the one who received the two P100 bills the CIIB operatives used in buying a small pack of shabu.
He, however, described the allegation as a mere fabrication.
Cebu City Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. earlier said he has not received any information on Tude’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs, although the SK chairman’s mother is wanted for drug peddling.
Pe heads the City Council committee on dangerous drugs.
He said Tude was there when the poseur-buyer bought a pack of shabu from the storekeeper at 6:30 p.m. last Sunday.
“He was there when the storekeeper handed the shabu pack to the poseur-buyer. He acted as the store’s cashier,” the councilor said. (RHM)
