he National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested on Saturday three suspected drug dealers, one of whom is believed to be the man seen together at the airport with Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson when he left the Philippines for Hong Kong last July.
Authorities identified two of the suspects who were arrested during a buy-bust operation inside a five-star hotel in Ortigas as Benjamin Leo-Bin, a Filipino-Chinese with aliases Benjamin Bokbok-Yu and Richardson Bondoc Ang; and Arthur Olarte.
Ruel Lasala, NBI deputy director for intelligence services, said Leo-Bin could have been the person caught on a closed-circuit camera accompanying Singson as the lawmaker bypassed immigration inspection at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) four months ago.
This page requires a higher version browser Singson was later arrested at Chek Lap Kok International Airport in Hong Kong on July 11, when authorities found 26.1 grams of cocaine and two tablets of diazepam, commonly known as Valium, allegedly in his possession.
The Filipino-Chinese suspect's name also appeared on the same passenger manifest of the Hong Kong-bound flight that Singson took that day, investigation showed.
"Pero vinavalidate pa namin iyan... kasi si Congressman [Singson], doon na-capture sa Hong Kong. Siya naman [Leo-Bin], etong dalawang ito, dito ang transaksyon nila. Kaya di pa namin matantya. Iba ang situwasyon nila," Lasala said at a news briefing.
(We’re still validating all these, since the congressman was captured in Hong Kong, while Leo-Bin, these two, their transactions are here. So we’re still looking into it. Their situations are different.)
Unlike the NBI, however, Singson's father, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, said he was certain the arrested suspect had something to do with his son's arrest.
"Matagal na naming pinag-sususpetsahan iyan. Wala lang kaming ebidensya. Kaya masaya ako nahuli iyan. Dapat huwag nang pakawalan iyan. (We’ve long suspected that person. Only, we have no evidence. So I’m glad he was arrested. He shouldn’t be released.)
The Ilocos Sur governor also offered to give monetary incentives to the NBI officials who facilitated the drug suspects' arrest.
The Hong Kong court hearing the younger Singson's drug case has earlier allowed the lawmaker to post a HK$1.5-million (P8.7 million) bail, after determining that cocaine found in his possession weighed 6.7 grams, not 26.1 grams as earlier alleged.
The Singson camp said it would ask the court to downgrade the charges from illegal trafficking to illegal possession.
Meanwhile, the third suspect arrested in the Ortigas buy-bust operation, a woman, was not presented to the media pending further investigation.
Authorities meanwhile described Olarte as someone who poses as a rich businessman and an operative of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group when making illegal drugs transactions.
The three were arrested after an undercover NBI agent posed as a buyer of a kilogram of cocaine worth P500,000. During the arrest, agents also seized two more kilograms of cocaine hidden in the suspects' car.—JV,
