Shabu smuggler did not get VIP treatment

We wish to clarify some inaccuracies in the column of Mr. Alvin Capino, which tackled the issue of the Subic drug smuggling case in the April 15 issue of your newspaper.

In the said opinion piece, Mr. Capino spoke of the “Subic mess” that several law enforcement agencies “now have to clean.” As far as cleaning – or providing closure to the Anthony Ang case is concerned, that may be true. But in between lines, what this implies is that the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority failed to do its job in dealing with the smuggling try. That, of course is farthest from the truth.

First, allow us to point out that it was the law enforcement officers of the SBMA – and not any other law enforcement agency – that first detected what turned out to be an attempt to bring into the Subic Bay Freeport more than 700 kilograms of high-grade methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu. And it was also the members of the SBMA police, SWAT unit, and harbor Patrol that, in several follow-up operations, actually discovered and confiscated all the illegal drugs that Ang and his cohorts managed to stash at several places in the free port.

The SBMA, of course, sought the assistance first of the President Anti-Smuggling Group, which has tied up with Task Force Subic to deal with smuggling cases in Subic, and later on the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency when it was determined that Ang’s undocumented boxes of “sensitive computer parts” actually contained Shabu.

Second, Ang never received VIP treatment from the SBMA. In fact, SBMA patrolmen accosted Ang after seeing him receive some boxes from a boat docked at the ship repair facility area. The same policemen brought Ang to the police station, where officers further denied his request to have the boxes released without documentation. So where was the special treatment in all this?

Third, the SRF is not actually a highly restricted area, as claimed by Mr. Capino in his column. Yes it has a separate gate where guards are posted, but it is also the site of a resort-hotel and restaurant that have recently opened to the public.

Any person with SBMA-issued ID cards or passes can be allowed entry there. That Ang was able to enter the area where he was subsequently accosted by the SBMA police, therefore, is NOT “a major indicator of such VIP treatment.”

Fourth, Atty. Redentor Tuazon, as Trade Facilitation and Compliance head, had no operational involvement in the matter, as it was a case of seized undocumented cargo, which was solely the concern of the Seaport and the Law Enforcement departments. Moreover, Mr. Capino’s speculation that Tuazon may be responsible “for bringing in Anthony Ang into Subic” could not be possible since he joined the SBMA organization only in October 2006, while Ang’s entry as a Subic locator is predated by years. And while Tuazon’s office would surely have knowledge of Ang’s registered business in Subic, as well as his role in the business on “hot” Ma Ling from China , would this give him a third eye that could discern Ang’s dark intentions?

It would really be easy for anybody to analyze events on hindsight and comment on what could have been done, but in the absence of the entire attendant facts that make Ang smuggling case a good subject for conspiracy theorists and whodunit writers, we cannot claim the Wisdom of Solomon as yet.

This is why we also welcome the upcoming investigation of the SUbic drug bust b y the Aquino panel, with the fervent hope that the facts of the case would be made evident eventually.

ARMAND C. ARREZA
Administrator and CEO
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority

--Manila Standard Today