No shabu factory in Lubao, says police exec

LUBAO, Pampanga — Chief Superintendent Vidal Querol, Central Luzon police director, has denied reports that shabu factories operate here in President Arroyo’s hometown and in Bacolor.

This developed as businessman Alfredo Tiongco, according to his lawyer, Oliver Lozano, would file a P100-million libel suit against Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla for alleging that he (Tiongco) was using his cement factory in Barangay San Jose Gumi to manufacture shabu.

Querol said the President issued the order to look into reports of a shabu factory in Bacolor when she visited Guagua town a month ago, during which a pastor claimed that such a factory existed there.

Tiongco first made it to the headlines in 1993 when he was tagged as the owner of a fishing boat found with shabu at the Navotas port. The courts, however, later cleared him of any involvement in illegal drugs.

Accompanied by reporters, Querol inspected Tiongco’s High-Tech Cement factory here the other day and found no indication that it was being used for the manufacturing of any illegal drugs.

Lozano, who was present during the inspection, said Tiongco, who was in China then, instructed him to file a P100-million libel suit against Padilla.

"The factory was opened to the public and the media for viewing to once and for all settle the issue raised (by Padilla)," Querol said.

Padilla was earlier quoted as saying that the President should first clean up her own backyard of illegal drugs as her administration goes after big-time drug lords.

Lozano said Padilla’s allegations were meant to "destroy" Mrs. Arroyo.

"We have no evidence to support such a public claim (of Padilla) at the moment. Also, the police director of Pampanga (Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza) and the Lubao mayor (Dennis Pineda) have observed that there have never been heavily armed men deployed in the cement factory which Tiongco owns," Querol said.

He said only "ordinary" security guards secure the factory.

Querol said reports of a shabu factory in Bacolor seemed to be baseless.

"We intensified our monitoring of the presence of any drug laboratory in the entire province, especially in Bacolor since the President was given such information by a pastor, but we found nothing," he said.

Earlier, Bacolor Mayor Buddy Dungca said police had scoured his town and found no such shabu laboratory.

He said houses and buildings with high fences were also closely monitored but authorities found no indications of any illegal operations inside them.

"Regardless of the baseless reports, the police, together with local officials and barangay tanods, are still closely monitoring not only Pampanga but the entire Central Luzon for any drug laboratories," Querol said.— With Ric Sapnu