KEEP DRUG MENACE OUT OF OUR HOMES

Our attention has been focused much in the currently raging
controversies surrounding the drug buy-bust operations where three
so-called "Alabang boys" were caught while peddling shabu and party
pop pills "ecstasy" to agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency (PDEA). Public rage was aroused by the controversies that
ranged from alleged bribery attempt by one of the families of the
"Alabang boys" to PDEA agents as well as allegations of a P50-million
bribe purportedly behind the reason for the dismissal of the case as
recommended by certain Department of Justice (DOJ) state
prosecutors.

The case stemmed from the arrest of Richard Brodett, Joseph Tecson
and Jorge Jordan Joseph, collectively called the "Alabang boys" by
PDEA agents. Brodett and Tecson were nabbed in a drug buy-bust
operation on Sept. 19 inside the affluent Ayala Alabang Village.
Tecson was later caught in Cubao, Quezon City. The three are scions
of wealthy and prominent families.

Last month, the investigating prosecutor John Resado, his immediate
superior Philip Kimpo and Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno
signed a resolution dismissing the case for lack of probable cause
and ordering the PDEA to free the three drug suspects. A few days
after the DOJ issued this resolution before Christmas, allegations of
bribery erupted.

This led to the House dangerous drugs committee to call for an
inquiry in aid of legislation about this case involving the
Congress-created PDEA. Retired General Dionisio Santiago, PDEA
director-general, testified under oath before the House public
hearing last week that there was really no such P50-million bribe.
Santiago admitted the story of P50-million bribe was nothing but a
concocted tale "to psyche out" the DOJ prosecutors assigned on the
case.

However, Marines Major Ferdinand Marcelino, who is in charge of this
PDEA buy-bust case, told the same House hearing he was personally
offered a P3-million bribe in exchange for the release of the three
alleged high-profile drug dealers. The bribe offer reportedly was
traced to Joe Tecson, the father of one of the three "Alabang boys."
But no arrest took place when the bribe offer was supposedly made
through a text message to Marcelino and subsequently followed up to
him by a fellow military officer as intermediary.

More sordid stories came out during the House hearing when PDEA
brought in the family of former basketball star Dave Brodett, his
wife and son with their own testimonies against Richard Brodett - one
of the "Alabang boys" who happens to be a relative.The family of
Dave Brodett claimed Richard has long been a drug user and pusher and
that his mother is into it also. The lawyer of Richard Brodett,
Felisberto Verano belied these claims and defended his client as
being caught in a family feud among the Brodetts.

While the House hearing was taking place, Verano filed a writ of
amparo before the Court of Appeals to compel the PDEA to release the
"Alabang boys" out of their detention cell at the PDEA in Quezon
City. This Verano did after he failed to secure the release of his
clients after meeting with DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez to implement
the recommendations of the DOJ state prosecutors on the case.

Verano got himself into trouble also and is now facing disbarment
charge after he publicly confessed he illegally used an official
letterhead of the DOJ. The pilfered DOJ letterhead contained the
draft resolution prepared by Verano for the temporary release from
PDEA detention of the three drug suspects.

Along the way, Verano got other DOJ people into trouble as well, like
in the case of Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor. A
fraternity brother from Utopia, Verano approached Blancaflor to
clarify the status of the DOJ release order for his clients which the
PDEA refused to implement by invoking the automatic review of the
case by the DOJ Secretary. Blancaflor, though, got his participation
cleared at the House hearing.

Last Monday, Verano, along with the family of Richard Brodett went to
the office of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to file complaint
of human rights violations against the PDEA and agents who made the
drug buy-bust operations. Verano must have been paid handsomely by
the family of Richard Brodett for him to go out of the limb to save
his client from serving jail time.

If we are to believe the other allegations of PDEA chief Santiago,
the families of the "Alabang boys" have also sought the intervention
of influential people in and out of government. Santiago claimed in
many speaking fora that a certain Palace official and a Metro Manila
congressman were allegedly trying to get off the hook the "Alabang
boys" from the illegal drugs charges, or at least secure their
release from PDEA detention.

But nothing in the actions so far undertaken by the families of the
"Alabang boys" showed any kind of attempts to save their sons from
the clutches and evil of drug use. Are the families still in denial
stage of the drug use problem of their sons?

It has been proven by drug tests conducted on their sons that they
were confirmed users of these dangerous substances. If the "Alabang
boys" are not illegal drug-pushers as their respective families
insist, they are drug addicts who need to be helped out of their
dependency on these toxic substances.

Saving the "Alabang boys" from being jailed is not the kind of help
they need. The more urgent need they must get is drug rehabilitation.
The more responsible members of their respective families could have
at least asked government authorities to compel their drug dependent
sons to undergo drug rehabilitation.

The illegal drugs menace is not merely a law enforcement problem, nor
just a legal problem. As I've said in my previous column, the problem
lies on the people running our criminal justice system. The system
failed in this case because the people behind them did not work as a
team.

And we are all members of the five pillars of the criminal justice
system - law enforcement, prosecution, judiciary, penology and
community - that must work together in unity to address the drug
menace in our country. Our families are the basic units in the
community that can best help wage the war against illegal drugs to
keep them out of our homes.