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Mayor Lims son busted for drugs 44-yr-old must face consequences, says father By Tina Santos, Alcuin

Papa, Arlyn dela Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 00:37:00 03/16/2008 Filed Under: Crime, Local authorities MANILA, Philippines?Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim on Saturday said he would not lift a finger to help his son who was arrested in a drug buy-bust operation late Frid ay in Manila. He said he would not even send a lawyer to his son, Manny Santos Lim, 44, a busi nessman, who was arrested with two others in Sta. Cruz, Manila. They were found with 100 grams of shabu, or metamphetamine hydrochloride, worth P600,000. ?If he violated the law, let the axe fall where it may. I only help those who ar e victims of injustice. That?s what I have been fighting for. The law applies to all, that?s my philosophy in life,? Lim said in a phone interview. ?He?s 44 years old, he should be ready to face the consequences of his actions. Let him suffer for his actions,? said the father who admitted that he and his so n had not been on speaking terms for some months. According to Lim, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Dionisio Santiago had called to inform him that his son had been arrested. Relentless campaigner ?I told him [Santiago], ?Congratulations to your men,?? said the mayor, a former police official dubbed ?Dirty Harry? for his uncompromising stance against crim e when he was chief of the National Bureau of Investigation. During his first stint as mayor of Manila in the 1990s, Lim pursued a relentless campaign against drugs, marking the houses of drug suspects with red paint to s hame them. He will be remembered for his mantra at the time: ?The law applies to all or none at all.? The mayor said he had no idea that his son was using drugs. ?I don?t know anything; what I do know is that he was having family troubles,? h e said. The younger Lim was arrested by PDEA operatives after he and his two cohorts tri ed to sell shabu to a police agent. Manuel Lim was arrested at around 1:45 p.m. on Friday on Espeleta Street in Sta. Cruz. He and the two others, identified as Joel Sabado, 33, and Ronald Pascual, 38, we re arrested after they tried to sell 100 grams of shabu for P340,000. The curren t street price of shabu, according to the PDEA, is P6,000 a gram. They were charged with violation of the illegal drugs law. Selling drugs is a no nbailable offense that carries a life sentence. In handcuffs and wearing a dark-gray shirt, Manuel Lim and his two companions we re brought before an inquest at the Department of Justice yesterday. He refused to answer questions about the arrest, but when asked if he had called

his father, he said: ?No, I did not bother. I knew he himself would arrest and charge me.? Old enough In a statement, Santiago said the operation was a legitimate drug bust and was p roperly coordinated with the mayor himself and Manila police authorities. ?This is a legitimate operation without any political motive. We appreciate the all-out support of local officials like Mayor Lim,? Santiago said. He said that Lim told him that his son was ?old enough to know the consequences of his actions? and that the suspect should be treated like any other violator. ?Just do your job,? he quoted Lim as telling him. Santiago added that the arrest of Lim?s son should serve as a ?stern warning? to all drug offenders that the PDEA would enforce the law ?without fear or favor.? Arnold Carreon, PDEA public information officer, said in an interview that Santi ago had informed Lim by phone minutes before the actual buy-bust took place at a dental clinic on Ezpeleta Street. At about that time, Lim was speaking out against corruption at the Liwasang Boni facio protest rally. Santiago said the intensity of the PDEA?s antidrugs campaign in Manila was mainl y because it was Lim himself who declared Manila an ?open city? for PDEA agents. ?Mayor Lim was in fact one of our inspirations in intensifying the anti-illegal drugs campaign in Manila. It?s just so sad that, after a rigid casing and intell igence work, the target on the other end happened to be his son, Manuel,? he sai d.

PDEA denies it bungled drug case vs Mayor Lim s son October 29, 2010 7:45pm 0 0 22 The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Friday said it should not be bl amed for the dismissal of the drug case against a son of Manila Mayor Alfredo Li m. The PDEA does not bungle drug cases," insisted PDEA director Dionisio Santiago as he explained why the prosecution failed to present witnesses two years after th e drug-pushing case was lodged against Manuel Lim and two other alleged accompli ces, Ronald Pascual and Joel Sabado. The three were arrested on Espeleta Street in Manila in March 2008 after alleged ly trying to sell 100 grams of shabu or methamphetamine hydrochloride to an unde rcover PDEA agent. The case was provisionally dismissed in October 2008 after the prosecution faile d to present any witness during trial. Two years later, on Wednesday, Judge Cice ro Jurado of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 11 permanently dismissed the case.

The younger Lim s camp moved for the dismissal of the case, citing court rules t hat stated that cases involving crimes punishable by imprisonment of more than s ix years, and which remain provisionally dismissed for two years, should already be considered permanently dismissed. Explaining why the arresting PDEA agents in the March 2008 buy-bust operations w ere unable to appear in court as witnesses, Santiago said they were dismissed fr om the service due to separate administrative cases even before they could testi fy. "Indeed, f Manuel officers use they there was a legitimate buy-bust operation that resulted in the arrest o Lim and his cohorts. Unfortunately, the poseur-buyer and the arresting lost their personality to appear in court as prosecution witnesses beca were no longer drug enforcement officers," Santiago said.

Despite the dismissal of the younger Lims case, the PDEA chief said the incident would serve as "part of the lessons learned in the annals of drug cases" that we re dismissed due to technicalities. "The public can rest assured that PDEA and our partners in drug law enforcement will still aggressively pursue our mandate notwithstanding minor setbacks such a s these," he said.Mark D. Merueas, GMANews.TV

Hostage-taker not part of team that arrested Lims son PDEA JERRIE ABELLA and SOPHIA DEDACE, GMANews.TVSeptember 8, 2010 11:20pm 0 0 15 Former Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza, the hostage-taker in the August 23 host age-taking incident in Manila, was not among the police operatives who arrested the son of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim over drug-related charges in 2008. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) made this clarification after Just ice Secretary Leila de Lima, head of an inter-agency committee investigating the hostage incident, said she received persistent information" that Mendoza was amo ng those who arrested Manuel Lim two years ago. There is persistent information about him (Mendoza) being the one responsible for the arrest of the son of the Mayor in his drug case," De Lima said during the f ifth day of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) probe Wednesd ay. We can t ignore those kinds of persistent information that somehow Mendoza had a hand in the arrest, whether he was the team leader of the arrest team or as memb er of the arrest team. We are still checking that," she added. But a report in GMA News 24 Oras" on Wednesday quoted PDEA chief Dionisio Santiag o as saying that Mendoza was never a part of the agency, and that he did not kno w where De Lima got the information. Mendoza, dismissed from police service over a robbery-extortion case, killed eig ht hostages before he was shot dead in a police assault at the conclusion of the 11-hour hostage crisis. Lim was head of the local crisis management committee t hat handled the hostage situation. Lims camp had also denied that Mendoza was involved in the arrest of Manuel Lim. Rafaelito Garayblas, the mayors close-in aide or secretary, said the arrest was c

onducted by PDEA agents and not by Manila Police District operatives. During the IIRC clarificatory hearing on Wednesday, De Lima asked for confirmati on of the report from broadcast journalist Erwin Tulfo, who said he covered the Manila police beat from 1998 to 1999. He also spoke with Mendoza during the crit ical moments of the hostage crisis at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. Tulfo said he heard about the Lim-Mendoza connection but said he dismissed it as probably tsismis (rumors)." When did you first hear about the information, whether it is rumor or not, that M endoza was responsible for the arrest of the son of the mayor?" De Lima asked Tu lfo. Tulfo replied, One week after the arrest." According to De Lima, the panel has received text messages about Mendozas alleged involvement in the arrest of Lims son. She declined to identify the sources of t he text messages, adding that the information is still being verified. However, she said that it is still premature to conclude that Lims demeanor in ha ndling the hostage crisis had something to do with Mendozas supposed hand in the arrest of the his son. But we need to know all of these because it just so happened that there was this hostage-taking. It can help us assess the actuations and instructions of the may or as chair of the (local crisis management committee)," she added. - KBK, GMANe ws.TV

Mendozas brother: Mayor Lim ordered my arrest abs-cbnNEWS.com Posted at 08/26/2010 10:03 AM | Updated as of 08/26/2010 12:52 PM Ex-Manila police chief also says Lim ordered hostage-taker s brother arrested MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) - The brother of slain hostage-taker former sen ior police inspector Rolando Mendoza blames Mayor Alfredo Lim for ordering his a rrest. SPO2 Gregorio Mendoza told Umagang Kay Ganda (UKG) hindi ako nagsisinungalingayoko sabihin, pero yun ang totoo. It was his consequent arrest at the height of the hostage-taking crisis on Monda y that supposedly triggered the older Mendoza to open fire and kill some of his hostages. The police have received flak for their actions in Gregorios arrest, caught on li ve television and allegedly agitated Mendoza who was then monitoring the situati on on television.

Over at the Senate of the Philippines, which is currently doing an inquiry on th e hostage incident, on-leave Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay admitted it w as the Manila mayor who ordered the arrest.

Yes, it was Lim

Magtibay, who was the ground commander during that time, was still beating aroun d the bush when prodded by Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr. He said Lims orders was anchored on a report by Superintendent Orlando Yebra who believed that he [Gregorio] was part of the conspiracy. Senator Jose Jinggoy Estrada, Jr., on the other hand, tried to source out of him i f it was Lim who ordered Mendoza dismissed from service. Magtibay, however, said, I dont have any information. Gregorio, who is out on bail after being slapped with conspiracy to commit serio us illegal detention, said he should not be blamed for the end-result. Palagay ko, hindi ako, baka po silaBaka ang pamunuan ng mga nag-negotiate, baka si la ang may kasalanan, he said. He remembered that when Mendoza rejected the letter from the Ombudsman, his brot her was still discussing matters with 1 of the negotiators. One of his demands then was for the Ombudsman to review an extortion case that c aused his dismissal from service. Mendoza, thereafter, asked another negotiator, Chief Inspector Romeo Salvador, i f the police had given Gregorio back his gun. Salvador answered in the affirmati ve. But when asked for confirmation, Gregoriowho was about 2 to 3 meters awaysaid the gun was still not in his possession. Yebra then supposedly told him: Bakit sinabi mo yun e ibabalik naman sa iyo?...Hi ndi ka pala makakatulong. Icha-charge na lang kita ng conspiracy. It was then that his brother fired the first shot, Gregorio said. Broadcaster at the other end of the line? Gregorio, however, noted that Mendoza could be talking to a high official from one of the broadcasting networks when he rejected the letter from the Ombudsman. Tingin ko taga-network, baka broadcaster kasi sinasabi niyang basura lang yung pa pel e. Nakalagay lang kasi subject for review, he said. The telephone call is said to be a crucial information for investigators. Asked if he was sure it was not a relative, Gregorio said: Palagay ko hindi. Bina basa niya ang sulat dun sa kausap niya nung oras na iyon. Pagkatapos, binigay ni ya uli kay Yebra (letter). The arrest Gregorio was, thereafter, whisked to the Luneta Police Community Precinct, where he waited for a couple of minutes while the negotiators were discussing matters . After 10 minutes, an official ordered to get handcuffs that will be used to rest rain him. He heard an official say that he be detoured around the back of the precinct.

May 2 na humawak sa balikat ko. Nung malapit na kami sa kalsada, naisip ko, baka kung ano na ang gawin sa akin. Nag-isip ako ng paraan, he said. That was when Gregorio ran towards members of the media covering the incident, h e said. He tearfully recounted he went there just to appease his brother, at the request of the latters children. He said his brother was a good man who wouldnt have done those things if not for th e actions of the police. Sinaktan nila akoKung malinis ang intensyon nila, hindi dapat ako dinaan sa likura n, he said. Gregorio asked for forgiveness from the families of the victims of the hostage c risis. Ako po ay lubos na humihingi ng kapatawaran sa lahat ng nagawan ng mali ng kapati d ko. Masakit din sa kalooban ko ang pagkamatay niyaSana maintindihan din po ng i ba ang kanyang ipinaglalaban, he said.

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