Mayor Bautista, Hero face raps over QC drug mess
Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista and his brother, Councilor Hero Bautista. FILE PHOTO
The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) on Friday filed criminal and administrative complaints against Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista and his brother, Councilor Hero Bautista, for “dereliction of duty” for failing to control the city’s drug problem, and for the latter’s admission of drug use.
The complaints filed in the Office of the Ombudsman accused the Bautista brothers of dereliction of duty and violations of the Local Government Code, the Dangerous Drugs Act and several Quezon City ordinances.
The Bautistas were also accused of violating the Administrative Code by neglecting their duty, committing misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
In an interview, VACC founding chair Dante Jimenez described Quezon City as No. 1 in drug trafficking based on the number of those who surrendered to the police for their involvement in drugs and on the number of those summarily killed under the government’s merciless war on drugs.
Primary evidence
From June 30 to Aug. 18, according to the complaint, the drug war had claimed 668 lives, with 250 of them from Metro Manila. Of that number, 40, or 16 percent, came from Quezon City.
Lawyer Manuel Obedoza, VACC vice chair, said the group’s “primary evidence” against the mayor was the admission of his brother, Hero, to being a drug user after the latter tested positive during the Aug. 1 drug test among city councilors.
The councilor, who tested positive for marijuana and “shabu,” or methamphetamine hydrochloride, later delivered a privilege speech at the city council announcing his decision to go on a six-month rehabilitation program.
In its complaint, the VACC said it was unlikely that the mayor had not known of his brother’s drug use. “Being the mayor (and) having deep-rooted intelligence of the city’s operation, it is impossible for respondent mayor to not have known of Councilor Hero’s drug problems,” the complaint said.
Brother’s keeper
It added that this was “no ordinary case” of one dismissing the wrongdoing of a sibling with a simple ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’
“Respondent mayor and respondent councilor are both public officials who have the bounden duty to protect the lives and safety of their constituents from this drug menace. Sadly this was not only violated but utterly betrayed,” the complaint said, adding that it was “galling” that the councilor had the temerity to ask for a leave of absence instead of resigning.
