TOMAS TO POLICE, NBI: Publicize Barok’s connections

Incoming Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña challenged law enforcement agencies to reveal high-profile personalities linked to Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro. Barok has been committed to the Cebu Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) for gun possession and illegal drugs. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday challenged law enforcement authorities to publicize the names of the high-profile persons suspected to have connections with Cebu’s number one drug lord Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro.

He threw his challenge to Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Chief Supt. Patrocinio Comendador as well as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7.

“Otherwise, he (Comendador) might be accused of concealing names. Unless, there’s an ongoing pursuit operations. But if you have information that so and so is implicated, let him say out in public so that people know,” Osmeña said in a press conference in his residence yesterday afternoon.

This way, he said, authorities won’t be accused of covering up for drug lords.

“Maybe it’s true; maybe it’s not true, but at least people should be aware. It’s worse when you keep quiet because some people will suspect that you are covering up,” he added.

If authorities remain mum, he said all of them, including Osmeña himself, are “stained” with allegations of being protectors.

Mum

But officials from the NBI remained tight-lipped about the revelations of Alvaro.

NBI-7 Director Jose Justo Yap said they already started the investigation to verify and validate Alvaro’s “revelations.” He appealed to the public to be patient while they closely look into the information relayed to them by Alvaro.

“The investigation will take time. Don’t worry, you’ll know once we will conduct follow up operations,” Yap said.

NBI-Bohol Chief Rennan Augustus Oliva, to whom Alvaro surrendered last Tuesday, said Alvaro’s revelations are enough to give them a clear picture of the illegal drug trade in Cebu, Bohol and Manila, where the suspect operated.

He said Alvaro gave them vital information like the “source of drugs, pipeline going into our areas and the actors in their syndicate.”

Oliva declined to reveal details of Alvaro’s “revelations,” saying they don’t want to jeopardize the investigation.

Protector

Osmeña likened Oliva’s statement to reactions over the death of Central Visayas’ top drug personality Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz last week.

Osmeña said he’s been receiving accusations that he was the one who ordered the killing of Jaguar because he was allegedly protecting him.

“Who was the mayor for heaven’s sake? How could I protect him? I just became mayor last month. Comendador was just assigned a few months ago.

How come Mike Rama did not capture them? How can this NBI guy say it’s a cover-up? He was assigned here, how come they did not get Jaguar? You know what I feel? Maybe he was the one protecting,” he said.

Experiment

Osmeña also said that he is initiating a social experiment of reaching out to suspected drug pushers and users, which will be focused in Barangay Mabolo in Cebu City.

He said the political landscape of the barangay, which is known as a Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) bailiwick, is his main reason for choosing the area as a pilot barangay.

“We gather all policemen who live there, not the policemen assigned there. They talk to the tanods. They know because it’s their barangay. They know it’s their family that lives there. They are very motivated,” he said.

Osmeña explained that the policemen will then reach out to drug pushers and users to convince them to stop their trade.

He also said he plans to build a community, probably in the Osmeña Shrine in Barangay Kalunasan, where families of drug personalities can build a community outside of their previous environment.

Osmeña’s hard-line stance against illegal drugs in the city has earned him critics and even threats.

He refused to answer questions regarding his personal security but jokingly said two of his dogs at home – Max, a black Labrador and Lenox a brown bulldog – will provide his security.

Although he admits that he can’t promise to completely solve the problem of illegal drugs in the city, Osmeña vowed to at least “improve the situation.”