By A.L. RICALDE
Correspondent
ARRESTED Department of Agrarian Reform lawyer Mario Pielago tested positive for drug use and the result of the examination formed part of the charges filed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency against him yesterday afternoon.
PDEA filed the complaint for possession of illegal drugs and paraphernalia for dangerous drugs, and drug use against Pielago before the local prosecutor’s office at around 3:38 pm.
The 53-year old Pielago is the head of the legal office of the agrarian reform department in Misamis Oriental. He was arrested during a raid staged by PDEA and the police in his RER Subdivision home in Kauswagan on Wednesday.
A PDEA agent who uses the assumed name Ben Calibre for law enforcement reasons said Pielago tested positive for drug use.
The lawyer has admitted to substance abuse but denied allegations that he sold shabu.
Following his arrest on Wednesday, Pielago admitted that he was a drug user but he strongly denied that the three sachets of suspected shabu allegedly found by authorities in his home were his.
PDEA said the seized substances were valued at P75 thousand, half of what the police estimated on Wednesday.
Calibre alleged that the lawyer was suspected to be a supplier to known drug users in the area.
“In fact, before mi nag-apply og search warrant nag-test buy mi sa iya,” Calibre said.
An ABS-CBN report quoted PDEA regional director Wilkins Villanueva as saying that Pielago has long been in the agency’s watch list.
He said there were complaints that the lawyer was “distributing” in his neighborhood.
Pielago’s arrest took place the same day Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones was here. He expressed disappointment that a DAR official was arrested for illegal drugs.
He said Pielago would face administrative sanctions and could even lose his job as a DAR lawyer if there was really a strong case against him.
Pielago’s arrest didn’t come as a surprise to his superiors because the lawyer also tested positive for drug use during a random test at the DAR last year.
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