Loot to sue detractors

CEBU, Philippines - Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot yesterday said he will pursue cases against those who implicated his name in illegal drugs, following President Duterte’s pronouncement on Thursday that no case will be filed against him even if he was earlier tagged to the drug trade.

"Yes, I will sue all those who are not immune from suit. Di man ko makakiha sa Presidente kay he is immune from suit," Loot told reporters at the sidelines of the launch of Angat Pinoy anti-poverty summit yesterday in Cebu City. However, he did not reveal the names of those he intends to sue.

Loot said his family’s business has suffered because of such accusations.

"Di na mi maka-loan sa bangko, unya ang among deposit di sad dawaton sa bangko without clearance sa AMLAC (Anti-Money Laundering Act Council)," he said.

Days after stepping into office in July last year, President Duterte named Loot and four other generals as drug protectors, a claim repeatedly denied by the mayor. Duterte also tagged Cebu-based businessman Peter Lim as a drug lord and former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama as a drug protector, who separately belied such allegations as well.

At the groundbreaking ceremony of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway on Thursday, reporters asked the president on the status of Loot, Lim and Rama.

“It was (an intelligence) report, ang sabi ko. Unless they are caught in possession of shabu, then there are no cases (against them),” Duterte said.

Loot said this only shows that the information fed to the president from the very beginning was fabricated, adding that it could be politically motivated.

"In war, you die only once but in politics, you die many times, and I died many times already and I am resurrected," the mayor said. (FREEMAN)