Friday, June 29, 2007 True or not, probe, accounting sought
CEBU City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon yesterday said a newspaper report on 46 “missing” drug cases was erroneous, as these were all located, verified and accounted for.
“Wa gyud ko kakaon tungod ani (I didn’t get to eat because of this),” said Sellon.
Regional State Prosecutor Antonio Arellano caused his forced diet. Arellano issued a memorandum directing Sellon to investigate the supposedly missing dockets yesterday and to submit a report within 24 hours.
The chairman of the House of Representatives committee on dangerous drugs, Rep. Roque Ablan Jr., also wrote Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez and sought an investigation.
In an interview over radio dyLA, Ablan said this isn’t the first time he heard of anti-drug complaints getting lost in the shuffle before prosecutors.
A local newspaper carried a story of the missing dockets, using as basis a document obtained from one Eli Espina, a City Hall employee detailed as a data encoder at the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor.
Personal file
Espina wrote Sellon yesterday and said the printed report, which a reporter obtained, was a personal reference and not an official document.
He said the reporter downloaded the file into a removable drive while trying to obtain details about the office’s program to catalogue all drug cases into a central computer for the Cebu City Anti-Drug Council.
“I told him that the file `no CBU cases’ was just a personal reference and not a report or document, which is still subject for follow-up and verification (and) which also has a note indicated at the bottom of the file,” Espina said.
Sellon, in an interview yesterday, said a majority of the cases said to be missing were actually already in court.
The rest were either still under preliminary investigation or already dismissed for lack of probable cause, he added.
Interviewed separately, Cebu City Police Office Acting Director Patrocinio Comendador said he hopes the reported “missing cases” will all be accounted for.
Confirmed
Any loss would discourage the police operatives who worked hard in their anti-drug operations. He will make an inquiry on the matter when the committee on drugs of the Cebu City Government meets next week, Comendador added.
The police also assisted yesterday in tracking down the supposedly missing dockets.
SPO1 Filomeno Mendaros of the Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (CIIB) appeared before Sellon and subsequently told reporters that his unit filed some of the complaints mentioned.
These are already undergoing trial.
Sellon also reported to Arellano yesterday afternoon and a formal reply to Arellano’s memorandum will be out today.
“He confirmed my earlier hunch. I didn’t say anything at first but I didn’t really believe that complaints could disappear at his (Sellon’s) office. There is very strict monitoring on drug cases. In fact, all dismissals are automatically reviewed by my office,” Arellano said. (KNT/JST/KNR)
