This time, cops more watchful at Pasay party; 4 held for drugs

UNDERCOVER policemen deployed at the venue of a dance party in Pasay City arrested four people for alleged drug possession in the wee hours of Saturday.

The tight security enforced at the Innovation White Party, held at the World Trade Center (WTC) on Gil Puyat Avenue, came in the wake of the May 21 rave concert staged also in Pasay where five partygoers collapsed and died. Autopsies and toxicology tests later confirmed that four of the fatalities took party drugs whose damaging effects on their internal organs were enhanced by alcohol.

Incoming President Rodrigo Duterte then called the deaths that marred the Closeup Forever Summer Concert a “failure of intelligence” on the part of law enforcers.

For Saturday’s event, no less than the Pasay police chief served as the ground commander.

The Southern Police District (SPD) identified those arrested as Marc Dexter Chua, 28, of Culiat, Quezon City; Leah Lyn Eugenio Reyes, 31, of Taytay, Rizal province; Shielumiel Natividad Calica, 18, of Calamba, Laguna province, and Nicolo Yulo Franco, 28.

Supt. Jenny Tecson, the SPD spokesperson, said they were arrested separately by lawmen who were posted at the WTC for the party, an event organized by Big Fish International. The arrests were made between midnight and 3:30 a.m.

Around 100 personnel from the SPD and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, plus bouncers tapped by the organizer, conducted tight checks at the entry and exit points, Tecson said. K-9 units were also deployed.

In a report, the SPD said Chua and Reyes were each found carrying a pill suspected to be ecstasy; Calica, a student, yielded drug paraphernalia with “traces of marijuana.” Franco, who was described as a designer, was found keeping a green capsule and 11 tablets believed to be ecstasy.

The four remained in detention at the SPD headquarters in Taguig City at press time to face charges for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

According to Senior Supt. Joel Doria, the Pasay police chief who also served as ground commander, what was different about Saturday’s dance party was that the organizers allowed the police full access.

“All of us were allowed inside. Even our uniformed policemen were there. Some of my men said they also saw (National Bureau of Investigation) men inside,” Doria said.

Tecson added that the organizers and bouncers fully cooperated with the police. “The arrests at the World Trade Center were the result of our comprehensive security plan implemented during special events or occasions.”