The Bohol Police Provincial Office (BPPO) cleared Dauis Mayor Marietta Sumaylo and her husband, Barangay Tabalong Punong Barangay (Head) Josever Sumaylo of involvement in the illegal drug trade.
The Sumaylo couple was pressed to secure certifications from police authorities after a series of broadcasts aired in a local station that “maliciously alluded” to the Sumaylos of alleged wrongdoings in connection with illegal drugs.
Wild rumors circulated in Dauis and in social media over their alleged disappearance took the couple by complete surprise and deeply bothered their children.
NO LINKS
The police certification declared that the Sumaylo couple “have no record in any participation pertaining to illegal drug trade activities”.
The certification further stated that the Sumaylo’s are neither “protector/coddlers of drug users/pushers within the province of Bohol particularly at the Municipality of Dauis, Bohol where they rendered their services as public servant.”
The police also expressed their appreciation to the Sumaylo couple for “their full support in the campaign against illegal drugs since the first day of their services as public servants”.
The police made clear in their respective certifications that “office records would show that no pending application for search warrant has been made by any of our officers or employees” against the Sumaylo’s.
The certifications were issued on July 14, 2016 by Police Superintendent Nicomedes Olaivar Jr, Company Commander of the BPPO, Provincial Public Safety Company, Special Weapons and Tactics and Police Chief Inspector Teodoro Tadeo Santos Jr., Provincial Officer of the Bohol Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
Moreover, Agent Ma. Chona Egam, Provincial Officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), Bohol Provincial Office released a certification on July 13, 2016 that their office “have no record in our office of activities pertaining to proliferation, distribution, and /or use of prohibited drugs” involving the Sumaylo couple.
PDEA-Bohol also stressed that there is “no standing search and arrest warrants or pending surveillance by our personnel” against the Sumaylo’s.
BASELESS, MALICIOUS
In a press conference on Friday at the Asiatika Restaurant, Metro Center Hotel, the Sumaylos together with their legal counsel, Atty. Lord “Popot” Marapao, lV categorically debunked claims by their detractors that they fled to avoid arrest for their involvement in the illegal drug business.
Mayor Sumaylo narrated that her family went to Manila lst week upon the invitation of Kim Atienza, a popular TV host and weather anchor known as Kuya Kim. She also celebrated her birthday in Manila on July 18, 2016.
All her activities in Manila were all over Facebook, Sumaylo said.
Upon their return to Dauis, she was greeted with queries over her alleged arrest and raid of their residence on suspicion of alleged hidden drugs, according to Sumaylo.
But according to Sumaylo, their detractors has been digging sensational stories for political advantage and to create in people’s mind that we amassed our wealth thru the lucrative drug business.
Sumaylo surmised that the plot to smear their reputations was a prelude to the October, 2016 barangay elections where her husband is slated to run for reelection as punong barangay of Tabalong.
Sumaylo’s husband is the president of the Association of Barangay Captains of Dauis and is an ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Bayan (town council).
According to Sumaylo, she was employed as a casual employee in the Local Government Unit of Dauis from 1992-1996 and resigned to focus on their fledgling lending business.
By dint of hard work, Sumaylo recalled their lending business prospered to where it is now positioned as one of the more progressive lending institutions in the Visayas and Mindanao.
For his part, Atty. Marapao belied the accusations thrown against his clients saying “we have secured certifications from the PDEA and the police authorities that no raids took place in the residence neither their involvement in illegal drugs of the Sumaylo’s”.
Marapao did not discount the filing of a criminal complaint against those responsible for “besmirching the reputation of the Sumaylo’s even as there is no iota of evidence that was ever presented by these individuals linking them to the drug business”.
Marapao also clarified that the alleged rape case filed against the husband of the Mayor is still pending resolution at the Department of Justice (DOJ).
CLEARED
A graft case filed by political nemesis Ephraim Bomediano against Sumaylo for tampering with her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) accusing her of misdeclaring her income and holding millions of pesos in deposits in two commercial banks.
Bomediano further alleged that the Sumaylo’s indulged in a lifestyle not proportional to her declared income and owning several undeclared real estate properties.
The Office of the Ombudsman – Visayas dismissed that graft case for lack of merit ruling that most of the alleged properties were purchased before Sumaylo assumed public office.
The alleged deposits in the two commercial banks are unproven while the money used to purchase the properties came from the proceeds of their successful lending business.
In the wake of the new administration’s war against illegal drugs, unscrupulous persons are perceived to abuse the free flow of information on drug links filtering to the authorities for their vested interests. (Chito M. Visarra).