I attended The STAR’s 20th anniversary party

Yes, I was there at the 20th anniversary celebration of The Philippine STAR at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel though a severe lower back pain forced me to retire early.

However, STAR president and CEO Miguel Belmonte told me not to be bothered by it, especially when I complained that I had to use a cane as my physician had advised.

Later, I met Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte. The ever gentlemanly Sonny greeted me profusely and introduced me to a businessman as "my contemporary in journalism," saying that we have been together since the pre-Martial Law Manila Chronicle.

I also saw former President Fidel V. Ramos holding court in the middle of the room. And yes, I also had a short talk with House Speaker Jose de Venecia, a former correspondent of the Manila Chronicle when I was the provincial editor.

I roamed around looking for Bobbit Avila, our man from Cebu. But there was a big crowd of more than a thousand people at the ballroom. There were many more old faces to meet but I soon tired of walking around sans a companion. Worse, I could not find a seat. Thus, shortly after I opted to go home to the house of my daughter, Philippine Graphics editor Salvacion Espina-Varona.

I did not miss the hustle and bustle of the reunion, although I met Marichu Villanueva, Tony Paño, Millet Dioso and Amy (Anna Marie) Pamintuan at The STAR office that morning.

My stint at the reunion was only brief, but it was heartening to note that thousands had attended the commemoration, including the top guns of the political and business worlds. It only shows you that The STAR remains the number one daily in the country.

As we often say in Latin, Ad Multos Annos!

Drag racing victim

He was just a 40-year-old low-profile teacher of the St. Scholastica’s Academy in Bacolod City but a crowd of about 2,000 attended his necrological service and burial Sunday at the Rolling Hills Memorial Park.

What catapulted Augusto de Leon to public attention and earned him heaps of accolades? Simple. He was killed in a car-racing mishap along the Bacolod North Road last July 21.

The vehicular accident prompted Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon to call for Talisay City to ban drag racing in Bacolod City.

Police filed charges of homicide through reckless imprudence against provincial board member Lorenzo Pena Suatengco, 19, and Marvin Ortiz, 17, for the death of De Leon Friday night.

But it was found out that Talisay City already has an ordinance against drag racing. In the conference called by Gov. Marañon, provincial police chief Charles Calima said traffic enforcement will be limited to the organic members of the LTO, the Traffic Management Group and the PNP assigned to traffic and the government personnel detailed at the Negros Occidental Road Safety. He will also review the LTO deputization issued to volunteers.

Suatengco, who is still confined at the Riverside Medical Center for possible knee cap surgery, is the president of the Sangguniang Kabataan and a member of the provincial board. He is also the son of former Pulupandan mayor Tony Suatengco.

Incidentally, De Leon was a teacher of the St. Joseph High School, and an adjutant of the University of St. La Salle.

It was only during the send-off rites that De Leon, to the surprise of many mourners, was discovered to be a man of many talents. He was a poet, a declaimer, a singer, and a dancer as well as author of winning declamation and oratorical pieces.

But perhaps he did not die in vain. That fateful accident that cost him his life may finally put an end to the drag races along the Negros North Road that had already claimed many lives. The horrified reaction of Negrenses may finally compel authorities to crack down hard on racers, many of whom were scions of prominent families.

Drive vs drag racing

The Western Visayas Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency readied a regionwide offensive against the remaining drug groups operating in the West region, following the directive of Director General Dionisio Santiago in a recent command conference in Metro Manila, which coincided with the PDEA founding anniversary.

Santiago, however, congratulated the PDEA Region 6, headed by Senior Superintendent Rolen Balquin, for presenting an airtight case against drug lord Jose Kim Cuadra, which led to his conviction and life imprisonment.

Seventy percent of the Cuadra group, Balquin reported, were neutralized through arrests and convictions by the courts.

Aklan Regional Trial Court Judge Niovady Marin sentenced Cuadra to life imprisonment and ordered him to pay a fine of P500,000 after he was found guilty of violating provisions of RA 9165 beyond reasonable doubt.

Santiago also noted a nationwide drop in the arrest of drug personalities for June and July.

The WV PDEA, Balquin reported, filed a total of 3,004 drug cases, 1,303 were lodged in Bacolod City alone and 306 in Negros Occidental.

Fifteen convictions were secured, while 19 cases were dismissed. Four of these were in Bacolod. Of the 15 convictions, 11 were moved out by Bacolod City-based courts, he added.

Vigilantes in Dumaguete

The situation seems to have worsened in Dumaguete City where a team of vigilantes reportedly killed in broad daylight a suspected pusher who was acquitted recently by the court right in front of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Sunday.

The fatality was identified as Romulo Tano Jr., 42, a resident of Cervantes Extension, Poblacion 8.

Tano was alighting from a yellow mulsicab in Bajumpada at about 10:03 a.m. when shot by one of two assailants. He was reportedly about to visit his wife, Rosemia, at the BJMP.

Incidentally, Rosemia was acquitted with her husband by the Regional Trial Court last June 16.

BJMP guards said they heard four gunshots and later saw Tano lying on the road fronting the jail.

Eleazar Codilla Calisang, the tricycle driver, rushed Tano to a hospital but he died later of multiple gunshot wounds.

Drug experts consider Tano as one of the big drug personalities in the city and his acquittal was considered a big blow to the PNP. He was the second drug personality shot dead after acquittal by the courts. The first was Islaw Ramirez, who was killed last May.

The morale of the story is that one may get away with crime but the vigilantes, the "equalizer" in this case, can still catch a drug peddler.