Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot of Cebu. (FILE PHOTO, CEBU DAILY NEWS)
CEBU CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to summon to Malacañang all the mayors linked to illegal drugs has been welcomed by the family of his biggest suspect, Mayor Vicente Loot of Daanbantayan, Cebu.
Loot’s stepson, provincial board member Sun Shimura, said the President’s summons would give the mayor a chance to prove his innocence.
Mr. Duterte has repeatedly linked Loot to the drug trade, an allegation the mayor has vehemently denied.
‘The best way’
“Actually, Mayor Loot always wanted to meet [with] the President to express and voice out his side after his name was dragged to the illegal drug trade. If the President is going to summon the mayors in the ‘narcolist,’ I think that would be the best way,” Shimura said.
“[If this pushes through], our family will be happy about it. Because he (Loot), as far as I know, has been attempting to meet with the President,” he added.
Shortly after he assumed office in 2016, the President bared the names of local officials in his narcolist, including that of Loot.
Loot, a retired police general, has denied that he is a drug lord, or protector of drug dealers.
Granted audience
On a visit to Cebu last Tuesday, Mr. Duterte again took another jab at Loot after announcing that he would summon all the mayors linked to illegal drugs, including the “evil Loot.”
Aside from Loot, former Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama was also included in the President’s supposed narcolist.
But unlike Loot, Rama was granted an audience by Mr. Duterte last March.
In an interview, Rama said he was not expecting the President to summon him anymore.
“I was already granted an audience. And I’ve been through the PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency), the police. I underwent several drug screenings. What’s there to talk about?” he added.