Drug-cleared village’s status ‘tainted’ with arrest of town hall worker

By Felipe V. Celino

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – The police chief of President Roxas, Capiz is worried about the drug-cleared status of Barangay Pantalan after one of its residents was arrested for alleged illegal drug trading recently.

Police Captain Alfred De Leon said they will go back to the grassroots in the campaign against illegal drugs.

Last week, President Roxas Mayor Receleste “Tanoy” Escolin clarified that the local government unit has no connection to the illegal activities of casual employee Martin Rey Villanueva.

Escolin said the local government hired Villanueva because he was poor.

Villanueva was arrested in a drug buy-bust operation Saturday morning, Sept. 3, at Sitio Bliss Barangay Pantalan, President Roxas, Capiz.

The Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU) and Station Drug Enforcement Team (SDET) of President Roxas, Pilar and Pontevedra Municipal Police Stations at Sitio Bliss, Barangay Pantalan, President Roxas, Capiz jointly conducted the operation.

Villanueva, 39, of said barangay did not resist when the police arrested him after handing over a sachet of suspected shabu to a poseur-buyer.

Recovered from Villanueva were six sachets of suspected shabu, P1,000 marked money, and a cellphone.

The seized substance weighed around 2 grams and was valued at P13,600. He also tested positive for drug use.