Politics ruled out in Asistio son's case

What politics?

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) dismissed yesterday insinuations that politics had something to do with its sting operation which resulted in the wounding of the son of Caloocan Rep. Luis "Baby" Asistio and the young man's live-in partner last week.

Chief Inspector Rhodel Sermonia, who led the team of CIDG raiders in a buy-bust operation against Luis "Piting" Asistio III, said the raid was purely a police effort to curb the spread of illegal drugs.

"We were just performing our jobs and it so happened that it was the son of a powerful politician who was involved," he said.

Rep. Asistio hinted the other day that the police had a "more sinister motive" in its operation against his son. He said Sermonia may just be trying to get even with him since he was the one who asked for the police officer's transfer to Central Luzon.

He described Sermonia as someone who used to work for Caloocan Mayor Reynaldo Malonzo, being a former head of the city's police intelligence and investigation division.

Asistio and Malonzo are political rivals.

In a press statement, Asistio noted that the circumstances surrounding his son's shooting "betray motives other than pure law enforcement."

He added that his other children have been receiving threats daily since the shooting incident.

"We are just gathering evidence against them (policemen) so we can file two counts of frustrated murder," he pointed out.

Sermonia, for his part, admitted that he personally knew Malonzo. But he said he had not seen the mayor since his transfer to Bulacan two years ago.

The police officer also explained that he was in fact thankful to Asistio for having him transferred somewhere else. "It freed me from Caloocan's dirty politics," he stressed.

Asistio III and his live-in partner Rosario Ortega were seriously wounded in the police operation in front of their house in Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan City. They are now recuperating at the Chinese General Hospital in Manila.

CIDG agents said they merely defended themselves when the congressman's son drew a pistol and fired at them. Seized from the young Asistio were 214 grams of shabu worth P400,000, P3,000 in marked money, an unlicensed caliber .45 automatic, two tooters used to sniff shabu, and dried marijuana leaves.

Despite the congressman's claim that his son was shot in the back, the police filed charges of drug trafficking, illegal possession of firearms and direct assault on persons in authority against Asistio III with the Department of Justice.

Meanwhile, Caloocan councilor Edgar Erice, a former ally of Asistio who has turned into his critic, brushed off the lawmaker's claim that politics motivated the police in going after his son.

"I know Piting's background," he said without elaborating.