Duterte’s ‘I hate drugs’

Jude Josue Sabio

IN his testimony, Edgar Matobato said that he personally brought P3 million to the Davao customs. According to him, this cold cash was grease money for the alleged smuggling operations of Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte. This undeniably proves the complicity of the Davao customs in the alleged smuggling operations of Vice Mayor Duterte more popularly known as Polong.

Indeed, reports and investigations point to the smuggling operations of rice and oil in Davao City, as also testified by Matobato. All these point to Vice Mayor Duterte as the mastermind of these alleged smuggling operations.

But is Vice Mayor Duterte acting on his own?  Is he not the son of former mayor Rodrigo Duterte who is now the President? As the adage goes, like father like son?

Reliable reports show cocaine bricks previously found in a port in Davao City.  Interestingly, these cocaine bricks were not intentionally found in an investigation.  Instead, they were discovered accidentally.

In March 2014, cocaine blocks were discovered from a ceiling of a Maersk container van. By chance, Sumifru workers discovered the cocaine bars when the ceiling of the container van fell off while they were inspecting the van.   The cocaine bars were plastered to the ceiling of the container van.

Way back in 2009, cocaine blocks were also discovered in a reefer container van in Sasa port. It was also a Maersk container van. The container blocks were discovered when the refrigerator of the van malfunctioned.

The then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte confirmed the blocks to be cocaine, issuing a stern warning for Sumifru workers to return the “stolen” cocaine bars, and even threatening to kill those found in possession of the missing cocaine bars.

Interestingly in those incidents, a Maersk container van is involved.  Sumifru is also involved. It is public knowledge in Davao that Sumifru is a company owned by Antonio “Tonyboy” Floreindo who is now a congressman of Panabo City.

If it is any indication, it is now already public knowledge that Tonyboy Floreindo is the biggest contributor to the campaign of President Duterte, having contributed P75 million to his campaign kitty.

The Floreindo-owned Sumifru is engaged in the business of selling and exporting bananas. It is public knowledge in Davao that Sumifru utilizes Maersk container vans for its banana business.

Why cocaine bars would end up in a Maersk container van is a deep mystery.   Reports have it that Sumifru employees were earlier charged with concealing cocaine bars from authorities in the 2009 incident.

But the big question remains. Was Sumifru or its owner Tonyboy Floreindo investigated or charged for the cocaine bars? Was Maersk Filipinas Inc. investigated and charged for the cocaine bars that mysteriously ended up in its container van?

One more big question. Why did the then Mayor Dutere know exactly that in the March 2014 incident, there were exactly 65 cocaine bars inside the Maesk container van?

In his public pronouncement as widely reported in media, the then mayor Duterte declared that there were supposed to be 65 cocaine blocks, meaning that the 24 cocaine blocks accidentally discovered by Sumifru workers were just part of  a much larger haul of 65 cocaine blocks.

The shroud of  mystery surrounding the Davao cocaine incidents is hard to unravel, owing primarily to the reality that drug operations are very secretive and impossible to detect. In this type of highly clandestine syndicated operation where traitors are killed, it is next to impossible for cohorts to squeal. That is why cocaine blocks in Davao were detected not by means of direct evidence coming from those involved in the operations.

If reports about the alleged smuggling operations of Polong Duterte are true, what would prevent him from including cocaine in his smuggling operations? In fact, Vice Mayor Duterte, as alleged by Matobato, is reported to be into drugs.  And it would not be far-fetched to suppose that his father President Duterte could be behind these shenanigans.

What is more, the deep mystery in the Sasa port is that multimillion worth of xay machines have reportedly not been put in good use by the Davao customs.

These xay machines could greatly help in the fight against contraband including cocaine, especially since there had been previous discoveries of cocaine and the then mayor Dutere robustly  pronounced that Davao City is being used as a transshipment point for cocaine.

But why the clear absence of interest in using these xay machines? Is there something intended to be concealed from detection? Or is it because of the strong influence of the grease money that, as Matobato had testified, he was tasked to give, as he gave, to the Davao customs allegedly at the behest of Vice Mayor Polong Duterte? To put it more bluntly, is it because the Davao customs is directly involved in the contraband?

Amidst President Duterte’s “I hate drugs” rhetoric and the daily extra-judicial killings in his nationwide war on drugs which is a replica of his anti-crime strategy in Davao before, these mysterious cocaine discoveries in Davao raise more questions than answers. Who knows, Duterte’s “I hate drugs” is not what it is projected to be.

It might turn out to be a hoax, a hypocrisy of the highest order, an urban legend and fairy tale, after all is said and done.

(Jude Josue Sabio is lawyering for Edgar Matobato. He is from Misamis Oriental. His views are his and do not necessarily reflect the position of editors or anyone in this paper. E-mail: atty.judesabio@yahoo.com.ph)