POLITICIAN, TWO OTHERS FALL IN DRUG BUY-BUST

BAGUIO CITY-A former vice mayor of Tinglayan, Kalinga, and two others
were arrested early Tuesday morning on Session Road in this city, for
alleged possession of 500 grams of hashish worth P100,000.

Supt. Danilo Flordeliza, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency regional office in the Cordillera Administrative Region
(PDEA-CAR), identified the suspects Mario Palangdao, 56, former vice
mayor of Tinglayan; Roland Baclay, 23, and Gonzales Bagtang, 20.

It was learned that Palangdao ran but lost for mayor of Tinglayan in
the May 10 election.

But up to now, the winning mayor and councilors in the town have not
been proclaimed pending review by the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) of the poll protests filed by the losing candidates.

Flordeliza told reporters the three were arrested inside the compound
of the Philippine Postal Office on Upper Session Road during a drug
buy-bust.

The suspect did not resist arrest, he said.

He said the arrest came after one of their (PDEA) informers informed
him that a group from Kalinga was looking for a buyer of hashish.

Based on the tip, Flordeliza said he ordered one of his officers,
Senior Insp. Paul Mencio, to organize a team for the operation.

Besides the 500 grams of hashish, the agents also recovered from the
suspects the P2, 000-marked money bill used in buy bust.

As this developed, Flordeliza said they would investigate a report
that a clandestine laboratory engaged in the manufacture of hashish is
operating somewhere in the Cordilleras.

The Cordilleras remains as the top producer of marijuana, supplying
almost 70 percent of the country's total output.

The bulk of the marijuana supplies are shipped from the hinterlands of
Benguet, Kalinga, Mountain Province and Ifugao.

Last week, PDEA-CAR agents also arrested two suspected female pushers
with 15 grams of shabu with a street value of almost P40, 000, on
Kayang Street.

The suspects were identified Hanifa Sabuyogan, 26, and Marisa Matuan
Sultan alias Sapiah, both residents of 120 Pinewood Subdivision in
Barangay Crystal Cave.