By Jennifer P. Rendon
Another liquor trader was arrested in a police operation afternoon of May 6, 2020 in Balasan, Iloilo.
Police identified the suspect as Mark Alisa, 32, a resident of Barangay Poblacion Norte, Balasan, Iloilo.
Members of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office-Provincial Special Operations Group (IPPO-PSOG) and Balasan Police Station conducted the buy-bust operation at Barangay Camabugan around 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Recovered from Alisa were P61,500 boodle or fake money and a P500 marked bill, 48 boxes of Tanduay Rhum (375 ml), and a mobile phone.
Colonel Paul Kenneth Lucas, Iloilo police chief, said the estimated market value of the seized liquor is P100,000.
Lucas said they are looking at the possibility that Alisa may have bought the liquor from Capiz after it was downgraded to the general community quarantine, which allowed the sale of liquor.
“But it is also possible that they bought it from the black market,” he said.
The liquor ban is in force in Iloilo province via Executive Order No. 080 (An Order Enforcing an Enhanced Community Quarantine Over the Entire Province of Iloilo for Stronger Protection Against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The EO mandated that “the selling, furnishing, offering, buying, serving, dispensing, and transporting of alcoholic beverages, such as whiskey, brandy, gin, vodka, rum, cocktail, wine, champagne, beer, and such other intoxicating drinks, shall be prohibited.”
