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Saturday, November 20, 2004
Mandaue mayor tells solons: 'I did not know'
By Aledel G. Cuizon and Garry Cabotaje
CEBU CITY -- Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano evaded blame Friday for a shabu laboratory that operated in his city, and passed the buck to local police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Others were not as fortunate. Mandaue City Hall department heads and the owners of a private warehouse used as a shabu lab took the heat for failing to inspect the premises, which could have stopped the illegal activity earlier.
Ouano had to wait six hours for his turn to face the House panel, but when he did he was ready with five lawyers, visual aids, a supportive crowd and a sheaf of documents outlining what he has done about illegal drugs.
The mayor insisted he had nothing to do with the shabu laboratory that authorities raided in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City last Sept. 24.
He never received information about the shabu lab until an officer of the city's anti-drug body called to inform him about the raid, Ouano added.
Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) said the committee may call the mayor again for another hearing in Manila, adding that he was only "75 percent" satisfied with Ouano's explanations.
Both Cuenco and Rep. Roque Ablan, committee chairman, said they never intended to single out Ouano and will also call some Metro Manila mayors to the next congressional inquiry.
"Nobody can be satisfied with everything. There are doubts. After we were able to get information and the mayor was able to defend himself, it's now up to the Department of Justice to find out who will be liable," said Ablan.
Unlike the mayor, Umapad Barangay Captain Zaldy Lumapas had to deal with some harsh words for his failure to notice the shabu lab, considering that meth gives off a pungent odor.
"You've been sleeping on your job. You are not complying with the mayor's directive to have a regular inspection," Cuenco said.
Lumapas' house is reportedly just a kilometer away from the shabu lab, tagged as one of the biggest illegal drug factories in Southeast Asia.
The committee will also recommend that the PNP Regional Internal Affairs Service place former Mandaue City Police Chief Alex Castro and Senior Insp. Iluminado Alin under administrative investigation.
Alin was the former Police Station 5 chief, whose area covers the shabu lab in Barangay Umapad.
A week before the raid, Castro said that PDEA 7 Chief Amado Marquez already tipped them off about a drug raid but there were no specific details.
He said he never shared that information to Ouano because Marquez told him that it was to be kept a secret.
But on Sept. 24, Castro admitted that it was the mayor who called him up, informing him about the raid of a shabu lab in Umapad around 9:30 p.m. He then went there but opted to stay outside the warehouse.
Asked why he was relieved of his post, Castro said: "Maybe because of that shabu laboratory or because I was an overstaying police chief."
The mayor stressed he relies on the local police, which the City Government has provided with financial support for intelligence operations and allowances for policemen.
He added that a day before the raid, he even authorized the release of P100,000 for intelligence funds.
He admitted that he was very upset that Supt. Castro didn't inform him about the laboratory.
But the mayor said he chose not to publicly show his disappointment in Castro, who had held the position of city director for more than two years, because he did not see the need for a public outburst and has no direct hold over the police.
Ouano also reported that he has ordered the suspension of City Engineer Ceferino Englis and City Treasurer Lorna Atega for failing to inspect the Caps R Us compound, where the shabu laboratory was housed.
He also clarified that his house is far from the shabu laboratory and that a distant relative owns the Ouano wharf in Barangay Looc.
Congressman Ablan (Ilocos Sur), Cuenco, Rep. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north) asked questions for more than an hour.
Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, a committee member, chose not to ask Ouano to avoid accusations of politicizing the activity.
The two, however, shook hands and exchanged pleasantries after the hearing ended around 5:45 p.m. Friday.
Mandaue City Hall officials, barangay captains, police and fire department officials were also given a chance to explain their side for their failure to detect the shabu laboratory.
After the inquiry, Ruiz told reporters in an interview that there are some areas that she wanted the mayor to verify.
For one, the preventive suspension imposed on two City Hall department heads should have been done after the discovery of the shabu laboratory.
Ouano's camp, however, told reporters after the inquiry that the mayor thanked the congressmen for giving him a chance to explain his side and Ruiz for keeping her word that she wouldn't ask the mayor any question.
Ablan repeatedly assured the audience and the invited resource persons that the inquiry was in aid of legislation, not politics.
"I agree that Mandaue City has been maligned but don't blame members of the Congress. We're here to ferret out the truth," Ablan said to Ouano.
"We will go after the culprit, regardless of who they are," Ablan added.
A case for illegal manufacture of illegal drugs has been filed against 11 men and their alleged financier before the Mandaue City Regional Trial Court.
The House committee found out yesterday that the city engineer, city assessor, fire inspectors, barangay officials and even warehouse owners did not do a regular inspection of the Caps R Us warehouse compound.
Caps R Us owners Andy Sanchez-Ng and Richard Ong were issued their last business permit in October 2003. They had filed for retirement of business last Jan. 8.
The warehouse was leased to Joseph Yu, one of the arrested shabu makers, from Jan. 15 until it was raided last Sept. 24.
No business permit was issued to Yu since he did not apply for one.
The House committee will dig deeper into the shabu lab operations in its next hearing after 11 such facilities were raided since last year.
The inquiry will resume in Manila, but no date has been set yet.
(November 20, 2004 issue)
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