Slain ex-councilman’s relatives cry rubout

RUIZ

THE family of the former councilman in Carcar City who was gunned down by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Monday is seeking justice for what they believed was a case of a rubout.

Jomer Padin, the eldest daughter of slain councilman Elmer Padin of Barangay Poblacion III in Carcar City, claimed that her father engaging the agents in a shootout inside their residence was improbable and unworthy of belief.

“Mga salbahis gyud kaayo na sila. Sobra ra kaayo ang ilang gibuhat. Grabe. Sakit kaayo alang namo. (They are just very cruel. What they did to my father was too much. It was so painful for us),” she said in a media interview yesterday.

Padin, 47, was shot dead by agents of PDEA-7 in an anti-drug operation at his kitchen past 3 p.m. on Monday. Recovered from his possession were 200 grams of shabu valued at P800,000, a .45 caliber and a KG9 submachine pistol.

The former councilman was reportedly the supplier of illegal drugs of the man who allegedly abducted and rape a four-month-old baby in Barangay Perrelos, Carcar City last Feb. 9.

Jomer said she and her mother were asked to move out of the house before the agents shot her father several times.

She claimed that it was impossible to her father to engage the agents in a shootout because her father did not have his gun with him when the operation was conducted.

She claimed that his father’s gun was in their room during the operation, and he even told the PDEA agents when he saw that he would not resist arrest.

“Walang kalaban-laban ang akong papa. Gidiretso ra nila og pusil. Dili pa mi kadawat hangtud karon (My father was defenseless. The agents just shot him. We still could not accept the manner he was killed),” she added.

Jomer, 27, also accused the PDEA-7 agents of stealing about P100,000 kept inside their house.

She said their family had yet to decide whether they would file a complaint against the raiding team before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

Jomer admitted that her father used to be a drug user but he was never involved in peddling drugs, contrary to the allegations hurled by PDEA-7.

She also claimed that because they had a large house, it does not necessarily mean that we are peddling drugs.

“They should have first conducted an investigation. My father’s mom is rich and owns several parcels of land,” she said in Cebuano.

But PDEA-7 Director Yogi Filemon Ruiz maintained that their operation against Padin was legitimate.

Since Padin was armed, Ruiz said the lives of the agents were in danger, prompting them to neutralize the target.

He also said that claims of some of the agents getting P100,000 inside Padin’s house as too much.

“People who are aggrieved always find ways to discredit the agency (PDEA). It has been a trend. All I can say is let’s just base everything on facts,” he said.

Based on their investigation, Ruiz claimed that Padin was peddling illegal drugs for at least 10 years and had killed at least five persons.

He said he would have wanted Padin to live because he wanted Padin to reveal his connections, source and the extent of his operations.

Ruiz said the PDEA-7 is nonetheless open to any investigation by the CHR and other agencies.

“If they (Padin’s family) want to file a case against us, then please do. We are willing to answer the accusations in the proper forum. We’re just doing our job to clean the community from the menace of illegal drugs,” he said.

“You have seen its (drugs) effects. Just imagine a four-month-old baby girl being raped by a drug addict. Anyone who does that does not have a sound mind,” he added.

Ruiz was referring to Jonathan “Jojo” Marfe, the suspect in the rape of an infant girl.

Carcar City policemen led by Chief Insp. Jose Liddawa, Carcar police chief, yesterday filed criminal charges against Marfe, who opted ot to undergo a preliminary investigation which could have given him the chance to refute the allegations.

Prosecutor Anabelle Robles recommended the filing of charges against Marfe before the Regional Trial Court. The offense is non-bailable.

Meanwhile, Carcar City Mayor Nice Apura said the city was ready to help PDEA 7 in its fight against drugs.

Apura said that based on their City’s Anti-Drug Abuse Council (Cadac) monitoring, there are still a few drug pushers in the town including some barangay captains or officials.

He said that he would give these reports to PDEA-7.