Bongat, city council want Duterte to clarify his Naga as shabu hotbed statement

By Celso Amo LEGAZPI CITY --- Naga City Mayor John Bongat said he wants to know the time frame of President Duterte’s statement against Naga even as a lady member of the city council said she wants the president to read the resolution passed by the Sangguniang Panglunsod denying such “irresponsible” allegation and that the president may answer it. Bongat recalled President Duterte’s statement that Naga City was a hotbed of shabu in the past years. “I want to know the time frame of his statement and why only now that it came out ,” said Bongat. He said he has been city councilor in 2001 to 2010 under the mayorship of Jesse Robrido and as mayor himself starting in 2010 up to now. “For almost twenty years never was Naga City branded as a hotbed of shabu,” he added. Bongat said he has been working closely with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Philippine National Police, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the National Bureau of Investigation. “I want to know with the PDEA and the police how come this happened that Naga City has been branded as such,” he asked. Bongat said the issue will be clarified if it will be placed in its true context. He recalled that he heard President Duterte talking about the Vice President Leni Robredo when suddenly the President shifted his statement about Naga City in one or two sentences. He also said it was not his topic but Naga City is the hometown of Vice President Leni Robredo. “We know how his statements about the Vice President and that’s it,” he added. “It’s better to work together and see what must be done to effectively address the problem of illegal drugs,” said Bongat. He said the city government of Naga has various programs to address the problem of illegal drugs through the Dangerous Drug Board such as prosecution, enforcement and advocacy Meanwhile, the Naga City Sangguniang Panglunsod also passed a resolution denying the statement of President Rodrigo Duterte that the city is a hotbed of shabu. Lawyer Miles Raquid-Arroyo, Naga City councilor, said a resolution from the City Council will be sent to the Office of the President. “We want the President to read it so he will answer it,” said Raquid-Arroyo. She said the statement of the President is unfair to the people of Naga City. “He is not just unfair to all Nagueños but he is also irresponsible in his statements,” she said. “For me this is selfish politics because Naga City is now part of the backlash due to President Duterte’s lack of trust on Vice President Leni Robredo,” she said . She added that if the President cannot protect the Filipino people it’s better for him to resign from his post.