MANILA, Philippines -- Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said his son, who was arrested in a police operation last Friday, could have turned to drugs because of family problems.

Manny Santos Lim, 44, a businessman, was arrested with two other men in Sta. Cruz, Manila. The three yielded 100 grams of shabu (metamphetamine hydrochloride) worth P600,000.

"His wife, along with two children, left him," the mayor said of his son. "We have been telling him that it (drugs) won't solve his problems but he did not listen."

The elder Lim said he received phone calls from his other children who were living overseas.

"They were crying, asking me what I would do, but they know me well enough. They know I don't tolerate any wrongdoing," he stressed. "Since they were young, I have been telling them that they should be responsible for their actions. They cannot count on me to help them if they did something wrong," the Manila mayor stressed.

The mayor admitted that he and his son have not been on speaking terms for several months.

Asked if he was planning to visit his son in the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Lim said no, adding that he would help him or send him a lawyer.

"Buntot niya, hila niya (He should take responsibility for himself)," the mayor said. "He should face the music and be man enough to face the consequences of his actions."

He added, "That's what he got for joining bad company."

The mayor, a former police official, was dubbed "Dirty Harry" for his uncompromising stance against crime when he was chief of the National Bureau of Investigation.

During his first stint as mayor of Manila in the 1990s, Lim pursued a relentless campaign against drugs, marking the houses of drug suspects with red paint to shame them. He will be remembered for his mantra at the time: "The law applies to all or none at all."

"That remains my philosophy, that's what I've been fighting for. I only help those who are victims of injustice. So if he (Manny) violated the law, let the axe fall where it may," he said.

The younger Lim was arrested by PDEA agents after he and his two cohorts, Joel Sabado and Ronald Pascual, tried to sell shabu to a police agent. They were arrested at 1:45 p.m. last Friday on Espeleta Street in Sta. Cruz.

They were charged with violation of the illegal drugs law. Selling drugs is a non-bailable offense that carries a life sentence.

During the operation, the mayor said PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago called him up to inform him of his son’s arrest.

"I told him [Santiago], 'Congratulations to your men'," Lim said. "'Treat him as an ordinary violator and throw the book at him'."