Lanao mayor denies role in drug bust

Mayor Pendulangan Juhayra Abinal of the municipality of Maguing, Lanao del Sur yesterday denied he was being hunted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for drug trafficking.

In a press statement, Abinal said that a news item in The STAR which alleged that he arranged a drug bust for four kilos of shabu worth P4 million in Quezon City on April 20 involving Lumba Bayabao mayoralty candidate Juhary Galo, "is false and malicious."

The accusation, Abinal said, "came from a polluted source and was obviously politically-motivated."

In the first place, he has not left Lanao del Sur since the election period started. "The records of the NBI will bear me out on this," Abinal said.

He further stated that being busy campaigning, he has no time and ill-motivation to malign a good man, a candidate in another municipality at that.

"Neither I nor Juhary Galo have cohorts in Quezon City where the alleged buy bust took place," he clarified.

On the other hand, Lawyer Ottowa Abinal, spokesperson of Juhary Galo, also denies that "Galo is at large, much less, no manhunt was set up for him."

Both candidates are popular in their respective municipalities, said Abinal, "and since their chances of winning are great, being hit by their adversaries in and outside their municipalities, including the use of media against them, does not surprise them during this period."