Agusan town exec nabbed for drugs, gun

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur—Barely two weeks after President Duterte named him among politicians involved in the drug trade in Agusan del Sur province, a councilor of Esperanza town was arrested by antinarcotics agents and policemen for alleged possession of illegal drugs and a firearm.

Gilbert Buenafe, chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Caraga region, however, said the arrest of Councilor Apolonio Layugan during a search in his farm in Barangay Dacutan on Wednesday was not prompted by the President’s narcolist.

He said they monitored the movements of Layugan, a former town vice mayor, for more than two weeks and applied for a search warrant when intelligence data confirmed he was into the illegal drug trade.

Buenafe said policemen, armed with a warrant, sought Layugan at the Esperanza town hall, where he was attending a council session on Wednesday, and asked him to accompany them to his farm.

He said Layugan cooperated with them during the search that yielded five sachets of suspected “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) worth P50,000 and a 9-millimeter Glock pistol.

Buenafe said Layugan did not resist arrest.

In a local radio interview, Layugan, now under the custody of the PDEA Caraga regional office in Butuan City, said he owned the gun seized by PDEA agents and local policemen. The gun’s license, he said, had expired.

But Layugan denied that he owned the illegal drugs seized from his farm.

Esperanza Mayor Nida Manpatilan said she saw Layugan’s name on Mr. Duterte’s narcolist when this was shown to local officials during the President’s meeting with the country’s mayors in Malacañang on Jan. 10.

Manpatilan said she advised the councilor to yield to the police. —CHRIS PANGANIBAN