Was there a grand plan against the Ermita barangay officials during last Sunday’s Sitio Bato antidrug operations?
Ermita Barangay Captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta said he believed there was a grand plan against them as he shared his suspicions about the actions of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 Yogi Filemon Ruiz and PDEA-7 agents during Sitio Bato operation, where 14 people were arrested and at least P800,000 of suspected shabu were confiscated.
“Akong duda, duna sila’y grand plan kay pagka-ugma gipakauwawan mi sa media. Wa gani sila mosampit namo bisag gamay (I’m suspecting that they have a grand plan because the day after that, they humiliated us in the media. They didn’t even contact us [during the operation]),” Rupinta said.
The Ermita barangay captain also said that he was disappointed over the statements made by Ruiz and Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña accusing him (Rupinta) of not cooperating with the police during the antidrug operations in the barangay.
Rupinta claimed that during last Sunday’s operation in Sitio Bato, some barangay officials went into the area to offer their assistance but their offer to help was rejected and they were instead told to leave the area by the PDEA agents.
He said a barangay councilman, the chief barangay tanod and the barangay administrator went to offer their help but they were told instead to leave the area by the PDEA agents.
He claimed that in the last five operations, the PDEA officials would ask them to be present as witnesses.
But in the sixth operation in Sitio Bato, he said they were not contacted to assist PDEA agents, and their offer to help, when they went there despite not being contacted, was rejected.
Ruiz earlier said that PDEA was planning to file charges against the barangay officials of Ermita for dereliction of duty for not cooperating during the raid in Sitio Bato.
Rupinta said that although they would be willing to answer the charges to be filed against them, he also cited the barangay officials’ achievements in helping arrest suspected drug pushers and users and in filing cases against them in court.
He said the Barangay Ermita officials played an active role in the filing of at least 3,000 drug cases in court.
Politics eyed
He even said that he was suspecting politics behind the PDEA-7 chief’s move especially since he was not allied with Osmeña.
But Mayor Osmeña, when asked for his reaction on Rupinta’s allegations, Osmeña just reiterated his accusation against Rupinta.
“I don’t like him politically because he’s involved in drugs. Now he’s saying I don’t like him because it’s politics. If you’re not involved in drugs, then you’re a good barangay captain, and we’ll probably be together. Tanang badlungon naa man sa Ermita (All hardheaded people are in Ermita),” he told reporters yesterday.
He said though that he’s happy with the outputs so far from the PDEA especially after the city expressed its support to the agency, including them in the list of agencies being given financial incentives by the city as well as providing them with vehicles.
“They’re happy and working and moving. And that’s good,” he added.