Bohol drug lord runs out of luck

WHILE Banacon Island in the town of Getafe, Bohol province, is one of the poorest communities in the country, it hosts this luxurious house owned by slain suspected drug lord Rowen “Yawa” Secretaria. TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

From afar, Banacon looks like a typical island-vi llage—huts on stilts, fish pens, small boats on shore, and fish laid out on racks to sun-dry.

What draws attention though is the two-story, colonial house near the docking area, which seems to suggest who lords over the island in Getafe town, 92 kilometers from Tagbilaran, the capital city of Bohol province.

The luxurious house amid nipa huts belonged to Rowen Torrefiel Secretaria, 33, also known as “Yawa” (Devil) and considered the youngest drug lord in Bohol. He was believed to be capable of disposing of five kilograms of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) with a street value of P59 million weekly.

Secretaria, along with two of his runners, was killed in a gunfight with Cebu-based lawmen who raided his house before sunrise of May 28. His death brought so much sorrow to more than 1,000 residents in Banacon that they even canceled their fiesta celebration on May 31 as they mourned.

“Why did they kill him? He was a good man,” said Andrew, 37, a resident. He declined to give his family name.

Despite questions about the source of his wealth, Secretaria was loved by his neighbors for his generosity.

Another resident, who gave his name only as Mike, recalled that the drug lord gave him P200,000 so he could replace his fishing boat that was destroyed when Typhoon “Seniang” (international name: Jangmi) hit Getafe, a fifth-class municipality, in 2014.

“I didn’t ask where the money came from. I didn’t care because the money was not mine. What was important was he was there to help us,” he said.

Loyalty and silence

Romulo (not his real name) borrowed money from Secretaria when his mother underwent surgery in Cebu City. “No one could help us at that time  except him,” he said.

While Mike and Romulo said the money was given unconditionally, Secretaria received what he really wanted from the residents—loyalty and silence—so he could continue his drug trafficking activities freely. Turning a blind eye was easy for them, especially in the absence of government on the island.

Banacon has been showcased by the provincial government as an ecotourism destination for having the country’s biggest manmade mangrove forest. It is also one of the poorest villages in the province.

The villagers earned a monthly income of less than P3,000, or less than P100 per day in 2014, the International Journal of Environment and Rural Development reported. Only three percent of them were considered well-off, while 87 percent lived below the poverty line.

“We are from the island. It is seldom that we get help from the mainland,” said Macaria (surname withheld), who was interviewed inside her nipa hut while playing “tong-its,” a card game, with her female neighbors.

The municipal government maintained that basic services were being provided to the villagers.

“The local government unit (LGU) was not remiss in its duty to provide the needs of Banacon. All the requests of the village officials were accommodated by the LGU,” said Herbert Torreon, clerk at the office of Mayor Casey Shaun Camacho.

Torreon said a midwife would go to the island twice a week while a municipal physician would bring medicines every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Electrification

Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado of the second district, where Getafe belongs, said he had provided livelihood projects to the island.

“While we understand the immediate need for food, we would rather give them sustainable support that will give them food for a very long time and not just for today,” Aumentado said.

Most of the households on the island are still without electricity. Most of the households use kerosene lamps. The big houses have generator sets.

Aumentado said officials had given priority to the electrification of Banacon. He said it “is included in the first batch of island-villages that will be energized.”

“All other livelihood projects come after energization since their main source of livelihood is fishing,” he said. “With electricity, people in Banacon will not be forced to sell their catch at a very low price because they can now keep their excess catch in cold storage. Keeping the prices of fish stable is expected to increase the income of the fisherfolk of Banacon,” he added.

Declining fish catch

While many families depend on fishing for their survival, the catch has dwindled from overfishing.

Macaria said some of her neighbors no longer fished. Some had joined the group of Secretaria in selling drugs, she said.

This explains why some residents who do not have jobs are living in concrete houses, have satellite dishes to watch more channels on their wide-screen television sets.

“There are more powerful individuals who are behind the peddlers,” Macaria said.

But Macaria said she askedher grandchildren not to get involved in the drug trade and tocontent with what they got from the sea.

The people loved Secretaria because he would readily help the needy, she said. He would give sacks of rice to the residents, school supplies to the children and cash to those who sought his help.

During fiesta every May 31, he would prepare a village banquet and donate money for the festivities.

“He would immediately offer to help us whenever we needed assistance. So we accepted his help instead of waiting for government assistance, which usually took so long,” Macaria said.

Supt. Ricky Delilis, spokesperson of the provincial police, described the drug lord as “elusive” and seemed to be protected by everyone in Banacon.

On May 28, however, Secretaria’s luck ran out after the police from Cebu received information that he would be home in time for the fiesta.

The suspected tipsters, a couple, were found dead the next day at the public cemetery on the island.