CEBU, Philippines - Cebu-based businessman Peter Lim once again issued a denial to allegations tagging him in the illegal drug trade in the Philippines. Except this time he made the denial in front of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“I would not say, Mr. President, 100 percent; I would say 500 percent. Wa gyud tawn ko anang negosyoha. Wa gyud tawn (I’m not into that business),” Lim responded when Duterte asked if he could conclude the Peter Lim he was talking to was not the suspected drug lord.
Lim flew to Davao City Friday and met the president that evening in hopes of clearing his name from reports associating him with drugs.
In his defense, Lim said their parents inculcated in them the value of honesty and hard work. He shared to Duterte there was a time when their family’s business went bankrupt and someone egged on his father to resort to illegal trade, but his father declined.
“He (Lim’s father) told our family, mga bata pa mi, ingon siya, ‘Son, bisan wa ta’y kwarta, bisan wa ta’y makaon, ayaw gyud mo entra anang negosyo nga makadaot og laing tawo,” Lim said.
“So wa gyud ka makig-istorya bisan og proposal nalang nga ‘Bai, sulod ta ani kay dako ta’g kitaon’ (So you’ve never discussed any proposal with someone inviting you into drug trade because of high returns)?” Duterte asked Lim.
Lim replied in the negative, saying no one had ever approached him for any shady deals.
Submit to probe
The president then advised Lim to submit himself to an investigating body like the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila so he can prove his innocence, adding he may even bring with him a lawyer as it is “constitutional.”
“Ingnon lang sa NBI nga coming ka. Diretso lang sa NBI, kang (NBI chief Dante) Gierran or makigkita ka kang (lawyer Vitaliano Aguirre), secretary of Justice. Kuhaon nako ang tanang (ebidensya) unya tan-awon nila, i-review,” said Duterte.
Duterte promised that investigation will be “flatly fair.”
As part of the process, Duterte said they will look for those people who may have transacted with “Peter Lim” and let them confront the Cebu-based businessman.
“But I will also admit now nga daghang Peter Lim sa Pilipinas (that there are many Peter Lims in the Philippines),” he said.
According to the NBI records, there are over 4,000 Peter Lims in the country.
“Wala ta’y away, di ta kaila, wala mi utang na loob sa imo, wala kay…as of now, wala ta’y nakita (We’re not enemies, we don’t know each other, we don’t owe you anything…no, because as of now, there are no findings yet),” Duterte told Lim.
The “Peter Lim” that the Duterte administration has tagged as part of the drug triad in the Philippines has been reported to frequently travel in and out of the country. In the organizational chart of drug lords operating in the Philippines, “Peter Lim” is considered to be the head of the Visayas triad.
Lim told Duterte he rarely travels abroad and if ever he does, it is usually with his family and they usually go on Holy Week.
Along with “Peter Lim,” Duterte revealed the names of Wu Tuan alias “Peter Co” and Herbert Colangco alias “Ampang” as among the biggest drug traffickers. Tuan is said to be a drug triad member operating in Luzon and Metro Manila and Colangco has alleged links with the Parojinog drug syndicate and Kuratong Baleleng gang. Both are now serving time in the New Bilibid Prison.
Retired police deputy director general Marcelo Garbo Jr., according to the president, is also protecting these suspected drug lords.
Congressional inquiry
While he denied alleged drug links, Lim admitted he was once a subject of a congressional inquiry that tackled illegal drugs from 1997 to 2001.
In 2001, former Cebu City representative Antonio Cuenco, then chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, called for a congressional inquiry in aid of legislation and presented two witnesses who accused Lim and his brother Wellington of being drug lords.
Bernard Liu and Ananias Dy, who were employees at the Hilton Heavy Equipment owned by the Lim brothers, testified against their former bosses.
Liu affirmed to have gone with the Lim brothers to Hong Kong to get a supply of illegal drugs, which were allegedly later distributed in the islands. Cuenco said he remembered the two witnesses told investigators that the Lim brothers brought the drugs into the country in a golf bag.
Dy, for his part, also testified that Peter Lim was into illegal drug business and had connections with Customs and Immigration personnel which made it easier for him to carry out his operations.
Cuenco, however, said the NBI was not able to validate such reports against the brothers and the two were consequently cleared from charges.
Later in 2006, Dy would be shot dead by two unidentified men in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City and in 2011, Liu would be found dead inside his home in Barangay Tangke, Talisay City, cases that remain unsolved to this day.
Right at the start of his conversation with Lim on Friday, Duterte did not mince his words.
“Warning-an tika ha. Nagbanta gyud ko ipapatay ka. Tinuod lang, ipapatay gud taka basta masilip nako na (I’m warning you. I’m threatening that I will get you killed. Really, I will if I confirm it),” he told Lim.
Towards the end of their exchange, however, Duterte’s tone mellowed down.
“Ako, I will not say I’m sorry because the reason why naila ka is (you are) suspected drug lord. I will consider your explanation, but just the same, para mawala na gani ang bahid, you better submit again to investigation,” Duterte said.
In the end, Lim thanked the president for meeting with him as he promised that he is “with Duterte all the way” in the fight against illegal drugs.
A video of their 31-minute conversation was uploaded on Facebook by the Presidential Broadcast Staff – Radio Television Malacañang. As of 7:45 p.m. yesterday, the post earned more than 263,000 views and over 11,000 shares. (FREEMAN)