Arrested were Hirohito Cadion, a reporter of RPN-9 dxKP-AM and president of the PNP Defense Press Corps of Zamboanga del Sur; Rey Lobo, anchorman of a public affairs program, Iwag sa Dakbayan (Light of the City), on dxID; Cadion’s younger brother, Homobono, Alfonso Macaso and Ariel Lobo, Lobo’s half-brother.
Seized from Cadion’s residence were several sachets of suspected shabu, white pills suspected to be Ecstacy, a caliber .38 revolver, P6,140 in cash and the P200 marked money used in the buy-bust.
The NBI agents also discovered three cubicles with a sound system and an exit passage in Cadion’s residence.
Both Cadion and Lobo denied the accusations.
The local media condemned the alleged involvement of Cadion in the illegal drug trade.
"We are ashamed of Cadion’s illegal activities and with his arrest, he will definitely be dismissed from the company," said Willy Sacdalan, news director of RPN-9 where Cadion has been working for almost nine years.
Alejandro Gesta, regional chairman of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) and manager of RMN-dxPR, said he had warned his colleagues in the media of being involved in illegal drugs and suggested that they submit themselves to a drug test.
The NBI said the two radiomen had allegedly been operating for almost one year and had been placed under surveillance in the past three months following reports that they were allegedly selling shabu to students at a vocational school across Cadion’s residence along RT Lim street here.
Another radioman, dxPR news director Philip James Tremedal, was cleared of suspicions after he agreed to submit himself to a drug test and was found negative.