Tom warns nephew: You're being monitored

Cebu City mayor on-leave Tomas Osmeña said the dismissal of the criminal charges filed against his nephew former Cebu vice governor John Gregory “John-john” Osmeña just because of insufficient evidence will not totally erase the thinking of the public that the son of his cousin is really a protector of the drug syndicate.

Osmeña, who is in the United States undergoing medication to cure the cancer on his urinary bladder, made the statement after Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 21 judge Eric Menchavez dismissed the case filed against the former vice governor, who was accused by the police as protector of foreign drug smugglers.

When this reporter asked the mayor on his perception whether he believes that John-john – son of former Senator John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña – is really involved in the illegal shipment of the P3.6 billion-worth of pseudo-ephedrine here in 2004, mayor Osmeña issued a strong warning to the former vice governor.

He said despite that the former vice governor is already residing in the United States together with his mother, but his activities are still being monitored by the authorities.

“That’s my strong warning to him,” the mayor said.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the country’s leading enforcement arm in the campaign against illegal drugs, has filed a case in court against John-john for allegedly protecting and coddling with illegal drug importers Mike Cummings and Dirk Hultz.

The mayor said he is serious in the campaign against illegal drugs to protect the constituents of the city from the drug menace and he will not defend the former vice governor about the allegations that he allegedly protected the drug smugglers.

Judge Menchavez ruled that the evidence that were presented by the panel of special prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) were not enough to prove the guilt of John-john.

Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Undersecretary Clarence Paul Oaminal has advised the DOJ panel of special prosecutors headed by State Prosecutor Archimedes Manabat to quickly draft a strong argument and to file a motion a reconsideration of the court’s dismissal order.

Oaminal believes that the DOJ team failed to elaborate before the courts the results of the surveillance operations conducted by the PDEA agents prior to the actual apprehension of the 1,500 kilos of pseudo-ephedrine where John-john was personally seen by them while entertaining members of an Australian drug syndicate at a hotel in Guadalupe.

It was reported that among those foreigners that were entertained by Osmeña at a hotel in Guadalupe include Australians Leslie James Norton and Rodney Allan James, who have been sentenced already to five and three years imprisonment, respectively, by the court in Australia for attempting to smuggle pseudo-ephedrine.

If the shipment of drug precursors had not been intercepted, they reportedly would have been shipped to Australia that is why the Australian officials are very much interested in this case, Oaminal said.

John-john, through his lawyer Edgar Gica, said the charges against his client are just manufactured maybe because of political reasons. — Rene U. Borromeo/NLQ (FREEMAN NEWS)