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Monday, October 16, 2006
Davao mayor to name town exec in illegal drug trade
DAVAO CITY -- Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will identify on Tuesday the town mayor reported to be trafficking illegal drugs into the city and other personalities in the drug trade during the City Council's regular session.
Engineer Luis Francisco who was earlier slain for his alleged links with the illegal drug trade mentioned the name of the Maguindanao mayor when he was arrested two years ago, Duterte said.
The mayor also took a swipe at his critics who chided him for continually announcing his knowledge of the town mayor's activities and yet has not done anything to cause the latter's immediate arrest.
"For those eternal cynics na wala namang alam (who know nothing at all), this is a good time for you to learn the law," he said as he explained that for a case to be filed against a suspect in the illegal drugs trade, he must be caught in possession of the drugs.
"If you want to arrest a drug lord, you must arrest him in the act of selling or in possession of the drug." Otherwise, he said, there is no case to be filed against him.
This is very much the same as the crime of illegal possession of firearms, he said, where an accused cannot be sued if he was not caught in possession of the gun.
In the same way, even if a drug lord is photographed with sacks of illegal drugs, he still cannot be sued for such if at the time of his arrest, not a single gram is found in his possession.
This is the reason why he earlier refused to divulge the identity of the town mayor.
Duterte was supposed to publicly identify the mayor on his television program Sunday but he decided to move it on Tuesday as he is set to appear before the council's investigation on the present drug situation in the city.
"I choose to just keep my silence now and I will divulge it this Tuesday during the (City Council) investigation. There, I will name names and give you the dimensions of our investigation on the mayor from Maguindanao," Duterte said.
Duterte earlier accepted the challenge posed against him by two Maguindanaoan mayors to reveal the true identity of the local chief executive who transported 3.5 kilos of shabu from Maguindanao to Davao City.
"The challenge is accepted, I will do it in four days time. I'm just collating the evidences, I will produce the report, but I'm not sure if I am allowed to divulge it," Duterte said.
The mayor however cited a provision in the Constitution, which states, "the public has the right to information".
Duterte said because of the clamor of the public for the revelation of the true identity of the drug lord mayor from Maguindanao he is now mandated to divulge it.
"There's a provision in the Constitution that says that the public has the right to information. It becomes a mandatory duty for me to divulge the information since there is now a clamor from the public," Duterte said.
The mayor said they will however "sanitize" first the intelligence report they have against the mayor so that their sources would not be compromised.
The mayor said he will also send a copy of the suspected drug lord mayor's dossier to Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan. It was learned that Ampatuan had also ordered his men to strictly monitor the said mayor after Duterte's revelation two weeks ago.
Duterte said the name of the Maguindanao mayor was first mentioned two years ago. Francisco who was arrested for illegal drugs before he was slain last October 4 squealed on his sources.
The mayor said during Francisco's arrest two years ago he invoked on Section 33 of the Drug Law. Section 33 provides that a drug suspect can be released and the case against him will be junked for as long as he provides critical information on the drugs trade to authorities, Duterte explained.
He added that Francisco was also being investigated for money laundering before he died.
"Apparently he was either rubbed out or hit by the DDS (Davao Death Squad). Yan ang misfortune niya," said Duterte.
The mayor warned all those who are into the illegal drugs trade to stay away from Davao City or face the same fate as that of Francisco.
"Sinong gustong sumunod sa inyo? Mamamatay kayo sigurado. Pakinggan niyong mabuti yung speech ko (in the opening billboard of the TV program that shows him delivering his inaugural speech as mayor) that I will do everything humanly possible to protect the interest of the people. Humanly possible and not just legally or lawfully possible dahil ayaw kong matali sa legalidad na 'yan," Duterte said.
The mayor said they are also monitoring another mayor, a policeman assigned in the region and two other cops in the city for involvement in the illegal drug trade. (Ben O. Tesiorna of Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(October 16, 2006 issue)
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