Drugs in villages prove links: Tom

The proliferation of illegal drugs in many of the Team Rama-allied barangays in the city is enough reason to point Cebu City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera as a drug protector.

This is the pronouncement of Mayor Tomas Osmeña after Pesquera said that she may file charges against the former, who tagged her as a narcopolitician in his social media post for allegedly reducing the City Government's anti-drug budget for 2017.

“Like her ex-boyfriend (former mayor Michael Rama), she is not interested in addressing the drug problem. You don't have to go very far. What has she done to ad- dress the problem, or any of them (Team Rama members), for that matter?” he said.

“Drug lords have prospered under the administration of Rama. Under my administration, they were dead. How come I can get nine out of 10 of the most wanted personalities in my first 30 days as mayor and he can't?” the mayor added.

Last December, the committee on budget chaired by Pesquera reduced to P5 million the P50 million funds for the anti-drug campaign supposedly this year. Pesquera has pointed out that they did not slash Osmeña's proposal, but included only the City's priorities.

Pesquera, for her part, lamented that it is Osmeña who's protecting drugs and that he should reveal the results of the drug test he underwent last December as a response to Rama's challenge.

“There is a rumor that he is a drug addict and that he is taking two doses of morphine every day. To prove otherwise, he should release the result of the hair follicle test,” she told SunStar Cebu in a text message.

As to the anti-drug budget, the councilor suggested that Osmeña submit a supplemental budget, saying the mayor has already used half of the budget without any substantial activity.

Osmeña, in response, said he will be presenting the results of his test very soon, and challenged Rama again to take a lie detector test to see who the narcopolitician between them really is. /