The news about the transfer of embattled Isidro Lapeña from the Customs bureau to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) has prompted a social media site that specializes on satires to make a spoof on the official.
According to the social media site, “Malacañang Events and Catering Services,” Tesda, under Lapeña, is set to “offer” new technical-vocational courses as soon as he assumes the post of director general.
The spoof went on by saying that Tesda would conduct training on “Magnetic Lifter Welding and Production” as well as “X-ray Machine Operation.” Other courses that will be offered soon include “shabu sniffing” and “shabu keeping.”
“Gusto mo ba ng high na high na income? Mag-enroll na sa bagong courses ng TESDA!” @MalacañanEvents said in a tweet.
Gusto mo ba ng high na high na income? Mag-enroll na sa bagong courses ng TESDA! pic.twitter.com/Xc16u47kf8
— Malacañang Events and Catering Services (@MalacananEvents) October 25, 2018
But Malacañang Events and Catering Services is a social media account that offers parodies for the entertainment, and sometimes education, of the public. And similar spoof messages and memes quickly hit social media platforms almost immediately after President Rodrigo Duterte announced the “transfer” and “promotion” of Lapeña from Bureau of Customs (BOC) to Tesda Director General with a Cabinet rank.
READ: Lapeña out of Customs but named Tesda chief with Cabinet rank
READ: Duterte fires all Customs execs amid ‘shabu’ scandal
One Twitter user asked for the duration of such courses, and Malacañang Events answered 3 to 6 months — about Duterte’s campaign promise of eradicating illegal drugs in just half a year.
3-6 months po https://t.co/CRScaZg32D
— Malacañang Events and Catering Services (@MalacananEvents) October 25, 2018
As of this posting, the tweet that showed an altered promo material from Tesda bearing Lapeña’s image has 242 likes and 67 re-tweets.
In August 2018, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino said they found in a Cavite warehouse four magnetic lifters, which were identical to the ones with shabu seized in a previous operation at the Manila International Container Terminal.
The magnetic lifters were already empty when PDEA operatives found it, but narcotic-sniffing dogs found traces of shabu inside it. Initially, Aquino said the smuggled shabu was around 1 ton and worth P6.8 billion. On Thursday, however, the PDEA chief said the contraband could be 1.6 tons and worth around P11 billion.
READ: 1 ton of shabu worth P6.8B eludes PDEA, PNP
READ: PDEA chief now says magnetic lifters contained P11B ‘shabu’
PDEA’s discovery gave rise to speculations that BOC officials might have conspired with drug smugglers to facilitate the contraband’s release right under the nose of the bureau.
This controversy came even after perpetrators of the similarly smuggled P6.4 billion worth of shabu remain scot-free.
Lapeña initially rejected PDEA’s assertions about the magnetic lifters containing shabu. But Aquino stood his ground and insisted that their dogs could never go wrong when it detected the presence of the illegal drug in the magnetic lifters.
On Wednesday, during an inquiry at the House of Representatives, Lapeña backpedaled and shared PDEA’s stance that the four magnetic lifters indeed contained shabu.
READ: P6.8-B ‘shabu’ smuggling: BOC men probed
READ: PDEA director insists magnetic lifters in Cavite had P6.8B worth of shabu
READ: Lapeña backpedals, now thinks magnetic lifters contained ‘shabu’
/kga/ac