I’m not a drug protector – Ermita barangay capt

Ermita barangay captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta said that if there’s any drug lord or police officer who can prove that he is a drug protector, he will resign from his post. (CDN PHOTO/JOSE SANTINO S. BUNACHITA)

CEBU CITY–Ermita barangay captain Felicisimo “Imok” Rupinta has denied allegations that he was a drug protector.

He called a news conference at the Barangay Hall on Monday afternoon to deny the allegation raised in an anonymous complaint filed at the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas that named him as one of the three village chairpersons who were allegedly drug protectors.

He said that while the drug problem in his barangay had not been eradicated, the village officials had been working to stop it from worsening.

“If any drug lord or police officer proves that I’m a drug protector, I will resign as barangay captain,” he said in Cebuano.

He said that since he became barangay captain of Ermita in 1997, he had been working to stop the illegal drug trades in the barangay.

“(There’s) only one area (in barangay Ermita), Sitio Bato, (that) has some drug personalities,” he said.

He added that he was now focusing his efforts on Bato and had been conducting door-to-door visits and clustered gatherings to convince drug personalities to stop the illegal drug trade.

Rupinta said that he was hurt that he was being labeled as narco politician, adding that the complaint filed against him in the Ombudsman, which was also sent to the Office of the President, is just a smear campaign against him.