Medellin barangay chief in drug controversy eludes arrest

CEBU, Philippines - Barangay captain Marianito Yaun’s brush with the law takes a second round.

The controversial chairman of barangay Tipolo in Medellin town, who was collared last year for allegedly sniffing shabu inside his car, reportedly refused to submit to the authorities succeeding a search warrant which was served in his house and which went positive yesterday morning.

Marianito “Manit” Yaun was the subject of the search warrant that was issued by Judge Antonio Marigomen of Bogo City.

In the search warrant, it was mentioned that Yaun “got involved in illegal drugs.”

During the search, the Medellin Police led by Senior Insp. Bonifacio Arriesgado discovered a grenade, a .357 revolver with five live bullets and some drug paraphernalia inside the house of Yaun.

But tension occurred after Yaun refused to cooperate with the police officers. He allegedly said he would only cooperate if his lawyer would be at the scene.

Senior Supt. Erson Digal, director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, said that they failed to arrest Yaun because of the alleged defiance of the tanods as well as Yaun’s relatives to cooperate with them.

Such prompted Digal to seek assistance from the 78th Infantry Battalion which is based in the northern part of Cebu province.

In the process, Yaun fled through the backdoor of his house.

Arriesgado, chief of the Medellin Police Station, in an interview over dySS Super Radyo confirmed that Yaun eluded arrest yesterday afternoon.

He said that they had stayed outside of the house from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m. waiting for the lawyer of Yaun to arrive and to have a look at the search warrant.

However, when his lawyer asked Yaun to go down, he was not anymore inside the house.

 Police officers then filed a case against Yaun for possession of an explosive device, and of the drug paraphernalia, as well as for illegal possession of firearm.

Arriesgado also said that the relatives of Yaun threatened to commit suicide if Yaun would be arrested. This is the reason why they opted to wait for Yaun’s lawyer to arrive from Bogo City.

Yaun became a controversial figure after he was arrested by the Provincial Intelligence Branch last year for having been caught in the act sniffing shabu inside his car in Mandaue City. – Gabriel C. Bonjoc/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)