Rorela Villegas and Ma. Rowena Roldan, accompanied by their counsel, Edgar Gica, met with PDEA-Central Visayas director Gaudencio Pagaling, but refused to issue any statement upon Gica’s advice.
Gica told Pagaling that his clients will issue a statement on April 27 since he still has to review the documents linking the two to the confiscated shipment.
Pagaling granted Gica’s request, furnishing the latter with photocopies of the documents that regional PDEA office has.
Villegas and Roldan, along with Joebert Cuesta, were identified in the documents as officers of Coastside Ventures Inc., the consignee of the seized 60 drums of pseudoephedrine.
Cuesta, for his part, said he was not able to go to the regional PDEA office because he did not personally receive its summons.
He said it was only his mother in Barangay Panadtaran, Argao town who received the summons on his behalf and that she informed him about it only later.
PDEA documents showed that it was Cuesta who allegedly applied with the PDEA for the issuance of a license authorizing Coastside Ventures to import pseudoephedrine, a controlled substance.
The regional PDEA office also found out that Villegas had allegedly represented the firm in a lease contract for a warehouse in Mandaue City where the pseudoephedrine would supposedly be kept.
Records also showed Roldan as the supposed president of Coastside Ventures.
The three staffers of Osmeña are expected to refute the allegations in their forthcoming statements.
And once their statements are with the regional PDEA office, Pagaling said his office can formally start its investigation into the controversial shipment. — Freeman News Service