COUNCILOR FEARS FOR HIS SON’S LIFE AFTER PDEA LIST
Councilor Arturo Bas of Talisay and his lawyer plan to seek an audience with PDEA, following the release of its alleged list of narco-politicians, which included Bas’ son Ferdinand, a former barangay captain Danao City Mayor Ramon “Nito” Durano III also questions the inclusion of “Ramonette Durano”, saying it was baseless, sensationalized and “a bastardization of the President’s intentions”
Relatives of former Barangay Lagtang, Talisay City village chief Ferdinand Bas denied allegations he was involved in illegal drugs.
In an interview yesterday, Talisay City Councilor Arturo Bas said he and his lawyer plans to visit the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to talk to them about the list of 207 barangay officials whom PDEA linked to illegal drugs.
The list, which included the younger Bas and two other former village chiefs in Cebu, was released last Monday.
The elder Bas told SunStar Cebu he was surprised and afraid when he received word that his son was included in PDEA’s list, which was made public ahead of the May 14 elections.
“Nahibulong lang ko nganong naapil siya. Kung drug lord pana siya, puerteng datoa na ana niya ron. Kaso, kami man ganeng mga ginikanan niya ang nagpaeskwela sa iyang mga anak. Bisag bawon kami pay muhatag (That puzzled me. If he was really a drug lord, he would be so rich now. His mother and I are the ones sending his children to school. We’re even responsible for their allowance),” Bas told SunStar Cebu yesterday.
Bas said that while his son was able to acquire a property in Lagtang, he bought it using his inheritance. Although the younger Bas was arrested during a police raid last year, he was released on bail after police found only weapons, no illegal drugs, in his house.
Immediate worry
Following his arrest, the younger Bas resigned from his post as village chief of Lagtang and has no plans of running for reelection in this month’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
But Councilor Bas said that with the list now in the open, he fears for his son’s life.
“Nakuyawan gyud ta kay kung ang gobyerno mao’y motrabaho, daghan gyung maangin (I’m frightened because when it’s the government who moves, a lot of people could get hurt),” Bas said.
Danao City Mayor Ramon “Nito” Durano III also questioned a detail in the list released by PDEA and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). First, Durano said, the list named Ramonette Durano, a former barangay captain of Suba in Danao and a former public information officer for the City Government. The former barangay captain’s name is Ramonette Cynthia Durano Mahinay.
The mayor’s son, Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI, also issued a statement last Monday that appealed for local verification of the PDEA list. He pointed out, among other details, that Ramonette had never been on the barangay or city police’s list of alleged drug personalities.
“I believe that the proper procedure in verifying the drug list must start from the local level. However, the absence of her name, Ramonette Cynthia D. Mahinay, at the local level warrants our need to know as to why her name appeared in the narco list. The discrepancy feeds more questions,” Mayor Durano said.
He said that the use of the family name Durano was probably intended only to attract the attention of many people.
“The apparent mistake is meant to infuse a potential for sensationalization. This is a bastardization of the President’s pure intention in steering away our country from the drug menace,” Mayor Durano said.
As a response to the nationwide call, Barangay Suba under Ramonette’s husband Lowell was named an awardee in 2016 for the work done by its Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council.