GMA TO DOJ EXECUTIVES, DRUG PROSECUTORS: GO ON LEAVE

President Arroyo ordered yesterday Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to
put on leave all officials and prosecutors at the Department of
Justice (DOJ) alleged to have received bribes in connection with a
high-profile drug case involving rich and influential families.

Mrs. Arroyo's order appeared to indicate that she is leaning towards
the version of officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
(PDEA) over the DOJ's that justice officials and prosecutors allegedly
received bribes in exchange for the release of suspected drug dealers
from wealthy families.

Gonzalez said he would implement the order, but would still have to
clear with the President if Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor
is included among those to go on leave.

Blancaflor was earlier questioned by PDEA officials for showing "undue
interest in the case."

Gonzalez has not yet - at least publicly - finished his investigation
into the controversial drug-bribery whose suspects are the so-called
"Alabang Boys."

"No one should be spared," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement from Cebu
where she is staying until today. "The full force of the government's
power to act against those that betray public trust should be applied
swiftly and unequivocally."

"More so in this case, which involves illegal drugs - society's cancer
on the one hand, and supposed pillars of the justice system on the
other," she said.

PDEA officials questioned Blancaflor and some prosecutors who
recommended the dismissal of the drug charges against Richard Brodett,
Jorge Joseph, and Joseph Tecson or the Alabang Boys.

PDEA officials alleged they have received bribes as much as P50
million for the release of the suspects.

Mrs. Arroyo said: "We should not allow a breach in our determined war
against the menace of illegal drugs and against narco-politics on a
broader level."

"We are witness to the tragedy that befell countries that have taken a
pause on their war on illegal drugs," the President said.

She said the nation's war on drugs should be vigilant and unrelenting
and should not be compromised.

"From a personal realm, I state this, I am a mother who is bothered by
an alleged conspiracy to let loose on our streets anew pushers of
illegal drugs. What if they lurk on my street?" Mrs. Arroyo said.

She said illegal drugs do not just destroy lives, "they gnaw at the
core foundation of a nation's most precious asset-its young people."

"Illegal drugs sap the strength of its young victims, their vitality,
their joy and their enthusiasm," the President said.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza and Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III
said the campaign against illegal drugs would be one of the main
agenda of the Cabinet meeting at the Palace tomorrow.

"Maybe we can get to the root of this controversy," Bello told The
STAR.

Prosecutors said they would wear white armbands today to denounce
accusations hurled against them by PDEA, while PDEA officials declared
that they would wear white armbands to show their "unblemished image."

10 more drug cases pending

Meanwhile, a PDEA official said there are about 10 big drug-related
cases still pending at the DOJ that came in before the case of the
so-called "Alabang Boys."

"What was so special with the case against the three rich drug
trafficking suspects that it was decided upon faster than the others,"
PDEA spokesman Derrick Arnold Carreon told The STAR in an interview
yesterday.

"Compared to the others, parang ang bilis (the resolution of the
Alabang case seemed faster)," Carreon said.

"Was it because, someone prominent was following up on the Alabang
case?" he asked, as he referred to the admission of Blancaflor that he
made calls to PDEA's Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino on the status of the
case of the Alabang Boys.

He said the pending requests include seeking the opinion of the DOJ
and resolution of cases, among others.

"One of which dated as far back as April 2008... These are the ones
older than the Alabang case," the PDEA spokesman noted.

"The Alabang case was only in September and it was dismissed and
decided upon earlier than the others," he said.

Carreon also expressed concern about the remaining pending cases
following the rift between the DOJ and the anti-narcotics agency
caused by allegations of bribery in the dismissal of the case against
the Alabang Boys arrested in a buy-bust operation last Sept. 19.

"We hope that the issue won't get personal... How are we going to
perform our functions in the fight against illegal drugs if that will
be the case," he said.

He was referring to the threat of the DOJ's task force on illegal
drugs to resign en masse, following the bribery allegations linked
with the dismissal of the case of the Alabang Boys.

It was only Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez who averted the plan of
the prosecutors, led by Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno, by
telling them to stand their ground and see the controversy through.

But Carreon said: "Don't they realize that we were also hurt by what
happened... We never meant to attack anyone personally... If they (DOJ
prosecutors) will take it personally, the (drug) cases won't push
through... We appeal to them. Let's continue our job."

In another development, Carreon clarified allegations that it was
PDEA's fault that the case against Manuel "Manny" Lim, a son of Manila
Mayor Alfredo Lim, was dismissed by a Manila court because its agents
did not show up at the hearings.

The younger Lim was arrested by PDEA agents in a buy-bust operation
last March 14 in Sta. Cruz, Manila, during which 100 grams of shabu
worth P600,000 were seized from him and two other suspects.

Carreon said five PDEA agents were recently dismissed after being
tagged in irregularities in another drug case.

"Two or three of these dismissed agents were involved in the Lim
case," he said.

He added that while the dismissed agents were tagged in irregularities
in another buy-bust operation, "it is presumed that they performed
without irregularity as far as the Lim case is concerned."

"The defense used the agents' dismissal to question their appearance
in court and their moral ascendancy."

Carreon said the subpoenas were sent to those who acted as back up in
the buy-bust operation, instead of the one who acted as the poseur
buyer.

"As for the poseur buyer, the supposed subpoena came in only through a
telephone call or a text message. It was not in writing, which was
highly irregular," he said.

He added the agent who acted as the poseur buyer in the Lim case still
"signified his intention to appear" but was questioned by the camp of
the defense.

He added that the dismissed agents might have been intimidated to go
against a high-profile drug trafficking suspect.