PASIG MAYOR UNDER FIRE FOR DEMOLITION

Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio could be guilty of covering up for
the maintainers, financiers and suppliers of the shabu tiangge that a
team from the Philippine National Police headquarters raided and
padlocked last week, two opposition congressmen said yesterday.

"The demolition of the shabu market by the mayor is a clear case of
cover-up," Iloilo Rep. Rolex Suplico told a news forum at the Serye
restaurant at the Quezon City Memorial Circle.

He said by dismantling the makeshift building in a compound near city
hall and a police station, which sells shabu and were drug session
were being held, Eusebio and all those who participated in the
demolition might have destroyed vital evidence to support charges
against those arrested in the raid.

"They covered-up for those who run the illegal drug market, destroying
evidence in the process," he said.

He added that PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao, who ordered
the raid, should file criminal charges against Eusebio.

For his part, Rep. Jacinto Paras of Negros Oriental said the vice
mayors and councilors who signed the resolution sought by Eusebio for
the demolition of the building should be included in the charges.

"By authorizing the dismantling of the shabu market, they could be as
guilty as the mayor for the cover-up and the destruction of evidence,"
he said.

He said city officials should not have barged into the compound, which
was cordoned off by a "crime scene, do not trespass" police tape,
until the PNP shall have finished its investigation and the court
where the charges against those arrested in the raid shall have
authorized the demolition.

"The judge now can no longer make an ocular inspection and see the
original state of the shabu compound," he added.

Suplico also said it was hard to believe that Eusebio and other city
and police officials were not aware of the operation of the illegal
drug market since this was just about 200 meters away from their offices.

"Besides cover-up and destruction of evidence, they could be charged
with drug trafficking as principals by indispensable cooperation. By
not doing anything against the maintainers, operators, financiers, and
drug peddlers, they in effect cooperated with these criminal
elements," he said.

Another forum guest, Pasig Rep. Robert Jaworski Jr., said he would
lodge a complaint with the Department of Interior and Local Government
(DILG) against Eusebio and other city and police officials for
allegedly tolerating the operation of the shabu market.

"I am just waiting for the PNP report. I hope that our colleague,
incoming DILG Secretary Ronnie (Ronaldo) Puno would act expeditiously
on this case," he said.

Suit Being Readied

An anti-crime and corruption group is now preparing to file criminal
and administrative charges against Eusebio for ordering the demolition.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is also being
asked to issue a suspension order against the local chief executive.

"We will charge him for obstruction of justice and cover up,"
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chairman Dante
Jimenez told The Star yesterday.

"We are now preparing the suit and we will file it at the soonest
possible time," he said.

Jimenez said Eusebio acted in bad faith when he ordered and even led
the demolition of shanties and stalls in Sitio Mapayapa, Barangay Sto.
Tomas.

Some 50 stalls found to be engaging in retail sale of shabu and
maintaining pot session rooms were torn down without a court order.

Jimenez said the VACC's legal team is also planning to charge Eusebio
as an accessory to the crime, considering that he destroyed evidence
on illegal drug trade operations.

"The fact that the mayor did so without asking for the permission of
the court or police, "there is probable cause to charge him for
accessory to the crime," he said.

The VACC is now challenging newly-installed DILG Secretary Ronaldo
Puno to act swiftly against Eusebio by suspending him and conducting
an investigation.

Senate To Begin Probe

The Senate will start its public hearings on the possible culpability
of public officials in the Mapayapa drug compound raided by the police
last week.

Sen. Manuel Villar, chairman of the committee on public order and
illegal drugs, has acted on the resolution filed by Sen. Miriam
Defensor-Santiago for an inquiry in the one-stop-shop for illegal
drugs in Pasig City.

"We will investigate on it by next week. And this will be the start of
an inquiry that will dwell on the over-all problem of illegal drugs in
the entire country," Villar said.

The hearing is tentatively set on Tuesday.

Villar said the Senate will also ask local chief executives and police
officials whether there are similar areas in Metro Manila and the rest
of the country, and what the authorities have done to eradicate them.

"We believe that this one in Pasig is just the tip of the iceberg. It
is a small aspect of a bigger problem on illegal drugs in the
country," Villar said.

Santiago, in a resolution filed Tuesday, said she wants to determine
the liability of the secretary of interior and local government, the
mayor of Pasig City, the director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency, Philippine National Police chief, and the chairman of Barangay
Palatiw.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, former chief of the national police, said Eusebio
violated certain provision of the Dangerous Drugs Act.

"Very clearly, very obviously, he violated certain provisions of the
law. May provision doon na kapag ang ebidensya ay sinira o pinagtakpan
mo, may corresponding penalty," he said.

Lacson noted that the police have not wrapped up its probe so it was
not proper that the structures in the area was destroyed.

"Di pa tapos ang investigation ng anti-drug unit na nag-conduct ng
raid sa lugar, bakit sisirain mo? The place itself is the actual
evidence of the crime," Lacson said.

The senator shared the view of Chief Superintendent Marcelo Ele, chief
of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF),
that local government officials should have coordinated with the
anti-drug unit prior to the demolition of the shanties.

Frustrated Drugbuster

If he could have his way, Ele wants to file charges against Eusebio
and his men for the demolition of shabu shanties last Wednesday.

Ele said the mayor could be held criminally liable for destroying the
evidence in the drug den when he ordered the demolition of some 100
shanties where shabu and drug paraphernalia were seized during a raid
last week.

The AIDSOTF chief said the filing of charges against Eusebio and his
men would be in compliance with President Arroyo's directive to spare
no one, government or police officials, in the campaign against
illegal drugs.

"He should have understood that the case is now under litigation and
obstruction of the law and protection of evidence are very basic,"
said Ele, a lawyer.

He also said the mayor could be charged as an accessory after the fact
and possibly a principal by dispensable cooperation.

When they learned about the order, Ele said he was at the office of
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao
and tried to stop the demolition by calling Eusebio's office, but
nobody was answering.

The AIDSOTF chief said he would file a report with the Department of
Justice and the DILG to determine the charges to be filed against
Eusebio and other local government officials for the existence of the
drug den.

The DOJ would determine criminal liability while the DILG would handle
the administrative aspect.

Ele added that they are now in the second phase of the investigation
of the case, which they expect to incriminate local officials and policemen.

He noted that the demolition was a classic example of how tampering
with evidence could hurt the case.

"I'm not saying that our case is weak, but each house at the compound
had been marked as evidence as part of the legal process. The
demolition destroyed all the evidence," he said.

Ele said the prosecution needs the shanties to be shown to judges
during ocular investigation to further strengthen the case.

He said his men rounded up 313 persons, including women and minors, in
the raid.

At least 99 of those arrested were released after they tested negative
for illegal drugs. - With Michael Punongbayan, Christina Mendez,
Cecille Suerte Felipe