PARANG, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 4 Aug) – To clear his name and prove he was not in any way engaged in illegal drug activities, a mayor in Maguindanao voluntarily “surrendered” to police authorities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-ARMM).
Mayor Rasul Sangki of Ampatuan town in Maguindanao showed up at the office of Chief Supt. Agripino Javier at PNP-ARMM headquarters in Camp SK Pendatun here at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Sangki, accompanied by his brothers, family and Maguindanao town police as escorts, requested for a closed-door meeting with Javier. The meeting lasted more than an hour.
Sangki, one of the witnesses to the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, vehemently denied “reports circulating around that I am a big time drug operator.”
“I strongly deny that I am an illegal drug trader,” he told MindaNews before the meeting with the regional police director. Sangki also said he was convinced the report that he was a big time drug lord was politically motivated, but not elaborate.
Social media buzz circulated around the province, Sangki said, tainted his family’s reputation.
Javier said Sangki agreed to personally appear before PNP Director General Ronaldo dela Rosa in Camp Crame to clear his name “in the coming days.”
The PNP director said Mayor Sangki was not in the PNP-ARMM drug watch list but added he was not sure in the Camp Crame list.
President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to publicly name at least 27 public officials involved in the illegal drug trade.
Duterte earlier publicly named five police generals, active and retired, as drug protectors and operators. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
