PASIG COP CHIEF, 6 PDEA MEN AXED OVER SHABU BUST

THE PASIG City police chief and six members of the Philippine Drug
Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in charge of eastern Metro Manila were
sacked in the widening fallout from last week's police raid on a
colony of shabu dens in Pasig City.

Metro Manila police chief Director Vidal Querol said last night he had
ordered the relief of Senior Superintendent Raul Medina for command
responsibility and for not being able to prevent "one of the biggest
embarrassments" to the police.

"Yes ... today," Querol told the Inquirer when asked to confirm
reports that he had relieved the Pasig police commander.

Another police official said he had learned of Medina's relief but a
formal order had yet to be issued. The official asked not to be named
because he was not authorized to speak.

Medina refused to answer his mobile phone when the Inquirer tried to
reach him.

The sacking of Medina and the six PDEA agents brought to 26 the number
of people axed in the wake of the discovery on Friday of a community
of drug dens a few hundred meters away from the Pasig police
headquarters.

Police yesterday filed charges against most of the 313 arrested in the
raid, while recommending the release of 99 others.

"There is a possibility that it can be happening in other parts,
especially in Metro Manila," Philippine National Police Director
General Arturo Lomibao told reporters in Dagupan City on Sunday,
referring to the operation of the Pasig drug dens.

"If they can operate in that long period, there's a possibility that
some police officers are in cahoots."

The six PDEA agents sacked will be the subject of an internal inquiry
to determine whether they had been negligent in their duties or worse
- -- involved in running the so-called "one-stop shop" for users of
shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride.

"The drug den could not have lasted this long without the cooperation
of corrupt police officials and men," PDEA Director General Anselmo
Avenido said in a statement.

The PDEA identified the relieved officers as senior police officer-2
Arsenio Gregorio Jr., SPO2 Oscar Rudas, SPO1 Tomas Calicdan, PO3
Eleonito Apduhan, PO2 Felino Sumaoang and PO2 Ramil Policarpio.

The agency exercises operational supervision over all drug units of
the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Customs.

Querol said the district police had wrapped up its investigation and
submitted its report to him.

Querol said the investigation focused on why and how the drug enclave
was able to operate, and on the performance of Medina.

He said the local police had long known of the existence of drug
activities in Sitio Mapayapa in Barangay Sto. Tomas and even conducted
16 anti-drug operations there last year, filing cases against those
arrested.

"The mere fact that they have conducted raids on that place on several
occasions ... would indicate that they had fair knowledge that there
(were) illegal drug (activities) being performed there," Querol said.

"Nonetheless, it still existed ... It's totally embarrassing for
everybody."

Querol, who had earlier sacked seven members of the police precinct in
the area and 12 anti-drug agents of the city and district, indicated
that district officials might also be investigated to see how far the
liability went.

Director Marcelo Ele of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task
Force said the 99 recommended for release included those who tested
negative for shabu traces.

"The sad part is the presence during the raid of grandparents, young
professionals, children and members of affluent families from outside
of Pasig City," Ele said. "This is a clear indication that the place
is a well-known drug enclave but was surprisingly sustained to operate
clandestinely for years."

A total of 148 people have been charged in the prosecutor's office
with drug use, two with drug pushing, and 28 with maintaining drug
dens.

Twenty-eight people were charged with possession of illegal drugs and
23 with possession of drug paraphernalia. Two persons were charged
with illegal possession of firearms. With reports from Yolanda
Sotelo-Fuertes, PDI Northern Luzon Bureau, and Philip C. Tubeza