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Sunday, March 21, 2004
Perdido officer linked to shabu stash
By Karen M. Flores and Elias O. Baquero
CEBU -- A link was found Saturday between Coastside Ventures Inc., the consignee of 1,700 kilos of a shabu ingredient, and Perdido Lex Foundation Inc., the "bogus" nongovernment organization that duped Capitol of P5 million.
Teodora Limcangco, one of five incorporators of Perdido Lex, was named as president of Coastside Ventures in the papers it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Limcangco listed her address in the articles of incorporation of Perdido as Sapangdaku, Guadalupe, Cebu City. An ABS-CBN report last Friday said this was the same address Limcangco listed in the Coastside papers. A news team even talked to Limcangco's mother there.
A white paper, which was circulated earlier, said Limcangco is Perdido's "treasurer-in-trust."
The release of about P5 million from Vice Gov. John Gregory Osmeņa's discretionary funds to Perdido Lex Foundation Inc. is currently under investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
Cummings' lawyer
Meanwhile, a lawyer of former first lady Imelda Marcos Saturday said Mike Cummings of Coastside Ventures, consignee of the P3.4-billion pseudoephedrine shipment, is not fictitious and is claiming the hot shipment.
In an interview with broadcaster Bobby Nalzaro over radio dySS, lawyer Salvador Panelo said Cummings called him from abroad and claimed the shipment.
"He sought my legal services because he said his legal importation of pseudoephedrine was seized by the authorities," Panelo said.
"If that was illegal, the importer (Cummings/Coastside Ventures)
would not have been declared it as such," Panelo told Nalzaro.
Panelo said Cummings gave to him Nalzaro's number and requested him to call dySS to tell the people of Cebu that he was hurt by the insinuation that he shipped a major ingredient for shabu.
Cummings also told him that he (Cummings) will send all the documents covering the importation and shipment of pseudoephedrine to him.
"We will file charges against all people involved in the seizure of the pseudoepherine based only on mere suspicion," Panelo said, adding that "mere possession of pseudoephedrine is not unlawful."
Legal cargo?
But Cebu City Councilor Sylvan "Jack" Jakosalem said if the shipment was legal, "why did the incorporators of Coastside Ventures deny knowledge of the shipment?"
Jakosalem, head of the Cebu City Council committee on dangerous drugs, said if it was meant to be sold to pharmaceutical firms, why didn't Cummings make the company-buyer as consignee?
"A consignee of a regulated and controlled chemical must be an existing and legitimate marketing firm or supplier," Jakosalem said.
"And why would it be shipped to Cebu when pharmaceutical laboratories are in Luzon?"
Jakosalem suggested to authorities investigating the pseudoephedrine shipment to find out if there are any pharmaceutical laboratories in Cebu or in the Visayas, and if any of them were expecting such a shipment.
"If not, then it's definitely for shabu. This is what United States authorities call chemical diversion," Jakosalem said.
Ephedrine is indeed used in some medications, such as anti-asthma drugs. But trading of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are strictly controlled, as both can be used to create shabu, the most commonly abused drug in the country for over a decade.
Mayor Tomas Osmeņa has offered a reward of P1 million for anyone who can locate a shabu laboratory in Cebu City and in Cebu Province.
'Controlled delivery'
Director Reynaldo Esmeralda of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 said the Bureau of Customs (BOC) should have sought the assistance of his office after the P20 million was offered.
Capt. Isidro Estrera of the customs police said he was offered P20 million by a caller on the evening of March 7 and early in the morning of March 8. Estrera issued a hold order against the pseudoephedrine, placed in 60 drums, last March 5.
Special Agent Danielo Gonzales, team leader of the BOC Task Force on Dangerous Drugs and Controlled Chemicals, confirmed that Estrera indeed issued the hold order against the shipment last March 5.
Esmeralda said customs authorities should have allowed "controlled delivery" where a wire will be placed on the cargo and the persons who will receive it at its destination will be arrested.
NBI's initial investigation revealed that a politician is involved in the pseudoephedrine shipment but his identity cannot yet be divulged because they are still working on the missing links.
PNP Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay said that the NBI might be correct that narcopolitics is involved in the pseudoephedrine shipment. He also agreed with Senior Supt. Gaudencio Pagaling Jr., who said that a foreigner might be the financier of the shipment.
"I want them, however, to coordinate and build up a strong case," Aglipay told radio dyLA.
Coastside, Perdido
Rep. Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, said they have 10 days, beginning March 19, to file the charges against those involved in the shipment.
Cuenco, Esmeralda, Pagaling, Senior Supt. Efren Saliganan of Police Regional Office 7 and District Collector Billy Bibit agreed that the joint investigation will be headed by lawyer Rico Rey Holganza, chief of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Cebu.
Limcangco, who was named as Coastside Ventures' president, could shed light on both the pseudoephedrine shipment and the Perdido Lex case.
The NBI 7 has been unable locate any of Perdido Lex Foundation's incorporators to answer questions about its transactions.
The phone number listed in the cover sheet of the papers Perdido filed with SEC has not helped.
It has been traced to Vice Governor Osmeņa's office at the Capitol.
In a privilege speech he delivered during the session of the Cebu Provincial Board last Feb. 9, the vice governor said this is a "public phone" that is used to receive and make all sorts of calls in his office's operation.
Perdido had proposed the "Touch Young Minds" computerization program to Capitol last year. It could have gotten more funds had it not failed to account for the funds it received from the Province.
(March 21, 2004 issue)
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