ILOILO City – A village councilman was arrested in an anti-drug operation in Barangay Abilay Norte, Oton, Iloilo over the weekend.
The 35-year-old Jade Catedral, a councilman of Barangay Talaba, Badiangan, Iloilo, was suspected of being a drug supplier in Panay Island.
Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (PDEA-6) caught Catedral around 9:15 a.m.
According to PDEA, the suspect initially sold a large sachet of suspected shabu to their undercover agent for P5,000.
The PDEA and personnel of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) collared the suspect after the transaction was consummated.
Aside from the buy-bust item, authorities recovered 15 more sachets of shabu, a .45-caliber pistol with ammunition, .25- caliber pistol with ammunition, holster and cash amounting to P7,980 believed to be illegal drug proceeds.
The total recovered illegal drugs from the suspect had an estimated street value of P100,000.
Police also recovered an identification card from the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) that expired in 2019.
According to IPPO director, Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, the suspect had been under surveillance for some time, but was “so elusive” until the operating units were able to secure an asset.
“He was not in our list, but some arrested drug pushers tagged him as their source that’s why we conducted surveillance,” Gorero said.
Citing intelligence reports, Gorero also said Catedral’s area covered Iloilo, Capiz and even Aklan.
“He was operating independently. He was transacting with his buyers,” Gorero said.
Catedral would be charged with violation of Republic Act (RA) 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002) and RA 10591 (Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act).
MILITARY ASSET?
The suspect refused to expound his claim but he said he was an asset of the Philippine Army (PA).
PA’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), meanwhile, denied this.
“Neither his identification card nor the mission order found in his position were among the authorized documents of the Army,” said Major Cenon Pancito III, 3ID spokesperson.
He added: “Such fake card and papers suggested criminal intent…Mr. Cathedral was not connected with the Army, much more that he is receiving any remuneration from the Army as what Bayan Panay has insinuated.”
The Army, Pancito said, shares the “highest standard of discipline” that recognized the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as the “most trusted” government agency in the recent survey.
“We don’t tolerate infractions from among our ranks, more so with people who identified themselves as part of our organization. Bayan Panay is too foolish to quickly brand the Army without even substantiating their malicious allegation,” he added.
Bayan Panay accused the AFP of using Catedral as their asset to do “dirty works that destroy the future of the young ones”.
As response, the 3ID challenged Bayan Panay to show evidence.
“We challenge them to bring reliable evidence that Catedral was used by us or commissioned by us to commit crimes. Bayan Panay should know this, as it doesn’t require much intelligence to comprehend. Otherwise, they are once again firing their old rhetoric of insulting the intelligence of the people and exemplify the definition within them the definition of being dumb,” Pancito said.
In a related development, the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit (RDEU) of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) also arrested two persons in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Bolilao, Mandurriao district on Saturday.
They were Edgar Peralta, 63, of Barangay San Antonio, Molo district and Steve Arroyo, 46, of Barangay Bolilao, Mandurriao.
They were caught transacting suspected shabu worth P15,000 with an undercover cop around 4:50 p.m.
Police recovered seven sachets of the prohibited substance from Arroyo. Peralta yielded one big sachet.
The suspects were detained at the Mandurriao police station.
The two were tagged “high-value” targets of the RDEU.
They were under surveillance for two months.
The recovered illegal drugs had a street value of P442,000./PN
