ANTICRIME WATCHDOG WANTS MAYOR CHARGED

AN ANTI-CRIME watchdog and opposition lawmakers sought legal action
against Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio for destroying evidence when
he ordered the demolition of a drug den before the official
investigation was completed.

"The demolition is suspicious because pieces of evidence that can be
used in the investigation were destroyed," said Dante Jimenez,
chairman of the Volunteers against Crime and Corruption (VACC), after
the mayor's men demolished 53 shanties in a drug enclave that sold
shabu openly a few blocks from city hall before police shut it down
last week.

Jimenez said his group would look into filing obstruction of justice
charges against Eusebio and ask the Department of Interior and Local
Government to suspend him.

Opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson, for his part, urged the Philippine
National Police to file charges against the mayor.

"Very clearly... he violated certain provisions of the Dangerous Drugs
Act," said Lacson, a former PNP chief. "If you destroy evidence or you
cover it up, there is a corresponding penalty."

This charge was echoed in the House by Iloilo Rep. Rolex
Suplico.

"What he did was a cover-up. He was destroying evidence," Suplico
said.

Earlier, Director Marcelino Ele of the Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special
Operating Task Force condemned Eusebio for issuing the demolition
order without checking with the police, and said charges would be
filed against him for destroying evidence.

After raiding the drug den on Feb. 10 and arresting about 300 people,
investigators marked and cordoned off the shanties while the
investigation continued.

Pasig City Rep. Robert Jaworski Jr., for his part, said he would ask
Congress to conduct an inquiry into the shabu market, which had been
operating for three years.

He too, said Eusebio could face obstruction of justice charges.

In the Senate, the chairman of the committee on public order and
illegal drugs said his panel would begin its investigation into the
Pasig drug operation next week.

Senator Manuel Villar said the inquiry would also examine the extent
of the illegal drug problem nationwide.

Villar, however, said he gave Eusebio the benefit of the
doubt.

"If there were evidence destroyed by bulldozing the place, he may be
liable... But I think the mayor just wants to show that he does not
condone the operation of the shabu supermarket," Villar said.