MISAMIS ORIENTAL (August 15) – Joint operatives of the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Region 10, the Provincial Drugs Enforcement Unit (PDEU) in Misamis Oriental, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-10 and Lugait Municipal Police Station, arrested Tuesday morning a retired policeman in Purok Mabini, Poblacion.
The operation was implemented by virtue of a search warrant issued by a Regional Trial Court in Cagayan de Oro City.
The target, identified as Ruben Vilbar, 58, has a rank of Senior Police Officer 4 (SPO4) when he retired from the Philippine National Police in 2016. He has served the PNP for 29 years.
Wilkins Villanueva, Regional Director of PDEA-10, said Vilbar has been in number 14 in PDEA’s regional drug target list personality and considered a high value target.
“Isa siya sa mga trusted cohort ni (Ricardo) Ardot Parojinog. He has been into selling of (illegal) drugs since 2014 (two years before he retired from PNP). Isa siya sa mga ‘nakalista’ na nasa serbisyo pa,” Villanueva said.
In fact, Villanueva said, Parojinog is Vilbar’s frequent visitor at his house where the search warrant was served against him and at his beach resort in Lugait’s Barangay Kalangahan.
Ardot Parojinog is the younger brother of the late Mayor Reynaldo “Aldong” Parojinog who was killed in a bloody anti-drug operation of Ozamiz City police.
The younger Parojinog was supposed to be included in the said police operation but have able to escape and went into hiding until he was arrested in Taiwan last month. Villanueva added that Vilbar was already known to his place being involved in illegal drug trade but he was not included in the barangay’s drug watchlist.
“We are trying to find out kung bakit hindi siya nalagay sa drug watchlist ng barangay considering na kilala siya as one of the players,” he added.
If proven that the barangay officials are coddling Vilbar, PDEA will file a case against the barangay chairman “for coddling (him) and dereliction of duty”, the PDEA regional chief said.
Villanueva added that Vilbar’s areas of distribution of drug supply are in Lugait and in Iligan City where he also gets his supply.
“Apparently, nung nandito pa sina Ardot, sa Misamis Occidental (kumukuha ng supply), nung nawala na sila (the Parojinogs) kinukuha niya supply sa Iligan,” Villanueva said.
Vilbar denied owning the illegal drugs though he admitted the pistol ang the ammunitions being a former policeman. He also denied personally knowing Ardot Parojinog .
Recovered during the search and seizure at Vilbar’s house were ten sachets of shabu weighing more or less 50 grams with estimated market value of 340,000 pesos, empty sealable plastic sachets, several magazines with live ammunitions, other live ammunitions in a plastic case, a 45 caliber pistol and passbooks of various banks and cooperatives.
Cases for violation of the Republic Act 9165 and illegal possession of firearms will be filed against Vilbar.
Incidentally, when Villanueva was a lieutenant, he was one of the trainors of Vilbar’s batch in the Philippine Constabulary. Divina Suson/NewsLine
