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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Monday. September 18, 2017
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ILOILO City – Two boardinghouses face closure. They are being used as drug dens, according to the Boarding House Commission (BHC) of the city government.
One, located on Jalandoni Street, Barangay Villa Anita, City Proper, was served with a closure order on Sept. 15, said BHC chief Ben Palma.
The other boardinghouse, located in Arevalo district, will be closed this Friday.
The boardinghouse in Barangay Villa Anita was raided by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Aug. 17.
Operatives seized five heat-sealed plastic sachets containing suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu weighing approximately two grams and worth P10,000; several drug paraphernalia; and a .38 revolver.
The owner’s son, Jokshan Cesar Gonzales, 25, was arrested with four others. They were John Roji Llanera, 27, of Barangay Gimbalaon, Silay, City, Negros Occidental; Jamil Salem, 24, of Puerto Real subdivision, La Paz district; Raycon Yumo, 29, Barangay San Antonio, Molo district; and Edsel Gregorius, 18, of Barangay Delgado, City Proper.
The boardinghouse did not have a permit to operate, said Palma.
He identified the owner as Annie Gonzalez.
According to PDEA Region 6 director Wardly Getalla, the suspects were caught “having a pot session in a room.”
“We’re alarmed. It was near a university,” said Getalla.
He did not discount the possibility that more students may have known the three-storey boardinghouse as a drug den and became customers there.
On the other hand, the boardinghouse in Arevalo was raided just this Sept. 8. Two students of a maritime school – Josen Michael Ronzales, 20, of Barangay Poblacion, Jordan Guimaras and Earl Bryan Dola, 19, of Barangay Sarawag, Janiuay, Iloilo – were caught and sachets of shabu were recovered.
“Maski may permit pa ang isa ka boardinghouse basta ginahimo nga drug den kag even illegal gambling, automatic it will face closure as stated in our city ordinance,” said Palma.
The BHC chief said this is not the first time a boardinghouse is being closed for illegal drugs.
The commission previously shut down three boardhinghouses after it found them to be doubling as drug dens.
BHC is continuously monitoring the operation of boardinghouses, said Palma, for illegal activities.
There are an estimated 2,200 boardhinghouses in the city. Of the 1,919 that the commission inspected in June this year, only 164 had business permits.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) recently passed an ordinance creating the Iloilo City Dangerous Drugs Administrative Board (ICDDAB). This Board shall accept and investigate complaints on drug-related activities and shall generally target drug dealers, dens and warehouses.”
“Kun kabalo ka nga ang isa ka lugar ginagamit as drug den or ginagamit sa mga drug transactions or naga-manufacture, pwede mo ma-report sa Board. May rules and regulations na sya. May rules of procedure man. Ang gina-target is to eradicate areas kon sa diin nagakatabo ang drug transactions,” said Councilor R Leone Gerochi, author of the ordinance./PN
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