Member of UPLB security force nabbed over illegal drugs

University of the Philippines Los Baños campus PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK.COM

CAMP PACIANO RIZAL, Laguna — Police on Thursday filed charges against a member of a civilian security force in the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) after he was arrested for selling illegal drugs.

Michael Villante, 36, was arrested around 4 p.m. Wednesday, in an entrapment operation along Pili Drive inside the university’s premises, Laguna police director Senior Superintendent Pascual Muñoz told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a text message.

Villanta, a resident of Barangay (village) Putho-Tuntungin in Los Baños town, was a member of the UPLB Community Support Brigade (CSB), a group of civilians and village watchmen formed under the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs to provide additional security in the campus.

Police Officer 1 Rommel Montecillo of the Los Baños police said an informant tipped them off about Villanta’s alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.

Montecillo said they recovered a sachet of suspected shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) from the suspect, who told the police poseur buyer that it was his “last stash for the day.”

Villanta was detained at the Los Baños police station and was charged with possession of illegal drugs.

Muñoz said the arrest was a result of the coordination between the local policemen and the UPLB authorities, who in March, launched a community-wide security consciousness campaign dubbed as “UPLB ko, Bantay Ko.”

UPLB and local authorities earlier came under fire following the deaths of students Given Grace Cebanico, who was raped and killed in October 2011, and Ray Bernard Peñaranda, who was killed by robbers in March 2012.