Mayor's son arrested for "drug pushing"

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — A suspected drug pusher, who turned out to be the son of a town mayor, was arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) in Barangay Maslog of Sibulan town Tuesday afternoon.

Nabbed by the SOG, headed by Sr. Insp. Jul Mohammad Jamiri, was 33-years-old Paulo Zartiga Teves, son of Valencia town Mayor Edgar Teves and a grandson of the brother of a former congressman of the 3rd district.

Confiscated from the suspect, commonly known as Pawpaw, was a transparent sachet (locally known as bulto), containing suspected shabu granules with a street value of P25,000, a cellphone and his black Suzuki Swift car (with plate no. FGU 353).

Inventory of the seized items was witnessed by Maslog Barangay Chairman Vicente Decipulo and representatives from the Department of Justice and the media.

Pawpaw, in an interview, vehemently denied the accusations, insisting that he was merely used as a middle man being the driver of the alleged buyer.

According to Jamiri, his team had been conducting surveillance operation on the activities of Pawpaw, who during the buy-bust was with a certain Jing Yuson, a resident of Maslog in Sibulan.

Yuson was however able to elude arrest and is now at-large. He will also be charged for violating the anti-illegal drugs law by selling shabu together with Pawpaw.

Mayor Teves, on the other hand, said it was regrettable to hear the report on the arrest of his son by the SOG. He was on official business in Ormoc City in Leyte at the time of the incident.

The mayor however confirmed that Pawpaw has been a drug user and even escaped from a rehabilitation center in Cebu.

In a statement issued to the press, Mayor Teves said: "I would like to ask for an apology for my son. As much as we don't want our children to be like that, but it happened and I am very sorry."

As a parent, Mayor Teves said he was so concerned of the activities of his son, even telling the latter that there will be only two things that can happen to him: To be killed or be imprisoned.

"I sent him to a good school, he finished college, studied law, and yet, it's happening to him. Maybe, I was a little bit lenient. I hope my son will change for the better. This has happened to my eldest (son) but he has changed for good," the mayor said while hoping that this personal matter will not be used as an issue against him by his detractors.

Mayor Teves also revealed that he earlier thought of contacting anti-narcotic agents from Cebu to arrest Pawpaw, but they declined due to the absence of any court order.

The SOG operatives told the mayor recently however that they warned his son three weeks ago but this action apparently fell on deaf ears, resulting in the buy-bust operation and the arrest.

Mayor Teves said that, as a parent, he will still provide Pawpaw with a good lawyer and let the court decide on the fate of his son. (FREEMAN)