Iloilo version of 'Alabang Boys' scandal intrigues House panel

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – An “intrigued” House committee on dangerous drugs said it would look deeper into the questionable dismissal of several illegal drug cases in Iloilo.

Committee members said the local version of the so-called “Alabang Boys” issue was more controversial and “stranger.”

The committee members were “perplexed” at what they discovered during their five-hour inquiry on Friday night: the alleged involvement of police officers in the narcotics trade and in the killing of a rookie policeman handling illegal drug cases, the alleged intervention of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez in ordering the withdrawal of the criminal information already pending in court against a suspected big-time drug pusher; the alleged collusion among certain prosecutors and suspected drug pushers; and the alleged ignorance of some Iloilo prosecutors on the automatic appeal of cases on dangerous drugs pending before the prosecutor’s office.

“We will dig deeper into the controversy,” Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco, a committee member, told reporters after conducting the legislative inquiry.

In attendance were top officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the National Prosecution Service, and the Philippine National Police.

For lack of time though, Cuenco said the committee decided to adjourn its investigation. But he said they are not terminating their inquiry.

He said the committee will ask for additional information and documents in the coming days.

“We will report what transpired during the hearing to Gonzalez, and we will also ask for his comment,” Cuenco said.

The hearing stemmed from House Resolution 927 filed by Iloilo fifth district Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. seeking to investigate the questionable dismissal by the Iloilo provincial prosecutor’s office of the criminal complaints against suspected drug pushers operating in northern Iloilo tagged as the “Balasan Boys.”

At the start of the inquiry, Tupas presented to the committee two confidential police reports detailing the alleged involvement of four police officers, including an official, in the illegal drug trade.

Based on the reports, the police official, whom Tupas did not name, allegedly masterminded the murder of PO1 Frederick Capasao. Up to now, no case has been filed for the killing.

Gonzalez, who hails from the city’s Jaro district, did not escape the eye of the committee members, who were intrigued at media reports about an anonymous letter questioning his order to withdraw the information filed in court against Cairoden Abdullah.

The letter, which was circulating in the Ramon Avanceña Hall of Justice and supposedly signed by court employees, was addressed to Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.

City prosecutor Peter Baliao told the committee members that Gonzalez ordered the withdrawal of the information because of an invalid search warrant and that the 11.74 grams of shabu allegedly recovered from Abdullah were planted.

“It is not proper for the prosecution to just withdraw or dismiss the case when it is already before the court,” Cuenco said.

Meanwhile, Ilocos Norte Rep. Roque Ablan Jr., who chairs the investigating committee, expressed suspicion that provincial prosecutor Bernabe Dusaban and assistant provincial prosecutor Recaflor Gentugaya-Obsequio were allegedly protecting suspected drug pusher O’Henry Caspillo because the charges against the latter were dismissed a day after they were filed by the Balasan municipal police.

“The situation here is much worse than the Alabang Boys controversy because the prosecutors are not well-versed with what is happening, and their unawareness of Memorandum No. 46, which provides for an automatic review by the regional state prosecutor of the drugs cases dismissed by city and provincial fiscals,” Ablan said.