BUSINESSMAN Peter Lim, 71, was devastated when informed that President Rodrigo Duterte named a certain “Peter Lim” as one of the drug lords operating under the protection of a top police official.
But he also remains confident that he wasn’t the person Duterte meant, his lawyer said in a press conference yesterday.
He runs “legitimate businesses, not drug-related businesses. This is why he is confident that he is not the Peter Lim that the President mentioned. Maybe the other Peter Lim is out there,” said lawyer Dioscoro Fuentes Jr. in a press conference.
Lim stayed away from the press conference.
Lawyers Antonio Cuenco and Clarence Paul Oaminal both called for a clarification from Duterte administration officials on whether the Peter Lim mentioned in the president’s press conference was based in Cebu.
“If you check the statistics office, there are several Peter Lims in the Philippines,” said Oaminal, a former undersecretary of the Dangerous Drugs Board.
Lim and a brother faced a House inquiry in 2001 led by then congressman Antonio Cuenco.
Who, really?
The allegations raised then that they were involved in illegal drugs relied on the testimonies of their former employees Ananias Dy and Bernard Liu.
Both men, however, can no longer testify. Dy was killed in Labangon, Cebu City last July 8, 2006. Liu reportedly died in a burglary in 2011 in Tangke, Talisay City.
Police Regional Office 7 Director Chief Supt. Noli Taliño said the local police will support Camp Crame if there is any investigation that will be conducted.
If President Duterte indeed referred to the same Peter Lim summoned to the House inquiry, Cuenco said he is willing to cooperate with the government.
“Absolutely, I will cooperate so justice will be served. If we were not able to completely serve justice during my time, it’s not too late,” Cuenco said.
But the former legislator reiterated that Lim’s identity should be verified.
“It would be too reckless for me to say that he is the same Peter Lim. So it should be verified,” Cuenco said.
5 answers
In the press conference, Atty. Fuentes said that Lim remains confident that President Duterte didn’t refer to him, citing five reasons.
First, he didn’t go to China and has resided in Cebu all these years.
Second, he never owned Jaguar KTV, as anyone who checks with the business permit section of Cebu City Hall would find out.
Third, there were at least 110 Peter Lims in Cebu City as certified by the Commission on Elections in 2006.
Fourth, the dangerous drugs committee of the House of Representatives had cleared him after an inquiry.
Fifth, he has never met retired Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo.
“All of the above is true and correct. That’s why my boss is appealing to all people not to judge him immediately because he is not the Peter Lim that President Duterte mentioned,” Fuentes said.
He also pointed out that both Lim and President Duterte served as godfathers during a wedding at Shangri-La Mactan last June 25.
What he does
Fuentes said that “the good Lim” is a legitimate businessman who has business interests in Hilton Motors Corp., the heavy equipment dealer Tiger Motors, entertainment outfit Kash International (K-1) KTV, and housing developer LimBros Development Corp., among others.
“Peter was devastated but is staying calm because he is sure he is not the Peter Lim mentioned by President Duterte. The Cuenco committee had already cleared him, and Cuenco is a credible person to say that,” Fuentes said.
In that congressional inquiry, Lim was represented by former Cebu provincial prosecutor Oliveros Kintanar and lawyer Elias L. Espinoza.
Fuentes said that Lim is worried someone might take advantage of the false accusations and attack him. He added that Lim’s children are now the ones directly running the family’s businesses, although the elder Lim guides them.
Meanwhile, in an interview in his residence, Cuenco recalled how the House conducted its inquiry some 15 years ago on the illegal drug trade.
Although they completed their inquiry, no cases were filed because they couldn’t get any proof that directly linked Lim to the drug trade, Cuenco said.
Civil
Also yesterday, Councilor James Cuenco, son of the former congressman, denied that he was connected to Cebu-based businessman Lim.
The younger Cuenco made the clarification after he heard a radio report tagging him as one of those who gave the businessman a favor.
Councilor Cuenco said the only time he remembered giving a favor to the Lim family was when their matriarch died and had to be transported back to Cebu from Singapore.
Councilor Cuenco said he had asked then airport official Ahmed Cuizon to allow the hearse to proceed to the tarmac so it would be easier to transport the casket.
For his part, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he knows Lim and they’re “civil” with each other.
He also corrected the report that Lim owned the Jaguar bar. Asked about the possibility of night clubs being used as fronts for illicit businesses, Osmeña said he can’t just stop a business for no reason.
“I cannot stop people from doing business in Cebu City. We’re not in martial law country,” he said.
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