Ramirez slams protector tag, admits to having used drugs

CEBU, Philippines - While he brushed off reports tagging him as a drug protector, former Medellin, Cebu mayor and now municipal councilor Ricardo “Ricky” Ramirez admitted to being once a drug user when he was younger.

“Let’s not be hypocrites. Sa atong pagkabatan-on moagi gyud ta ana. Ako, I will not say nga wala gyod ko katilaw. I’ve gone through that process pud, barkada, tanan unsa. Yes, I tried it before during my younger years, but karon wala na,” he told reporters yesterday.

Considered by the police as a high-value target, Ramirez, 53, was arrested Wednesday morning for allegedly harboring unlicensed firearms and drug paraphernalia in his house in Sitio Lucha, Barangay Caputatan Sur in Medellin, about 120 kilometers north of Cebu City.

But the former mayor has questioned the tag.

“Nahibong nalang pud ko nga ila kong gi-consider as high-value target nga I don’t know, dili nalang ko mo-venture og rason but I was just wondering ilabi na karon nga dili nako mayor, what power do I have?” Ramirez said.

He denied accusations linking him to the illegal drug trade in his town.

“Wala man gyod. In fact, giingnan na to nako ang hepe namo sa lungsod, ang bag-ong hepe, nga now is the time nga pwede ka mo-investigate nako. Og naa man gani kay testigo diha, dili na siguro na mahadlok kay dili naman ko mayor. Unya ang mayor nga naglingkod is my political enemy. So I can’t influence anybody,” Ramirez added.

Senior Inspector Arvi Arbuis, chief of Medellin police, said their investigation last year found Ramirez to be dependent on illegal drugs based on the information they gathered from the community.

According to Police Regional Office-7 director Chief Superintendent Jose Mario Espino, Ramirez will be subjected to a drug test as part of the police’s standard operating procedure for those  arrested persons linked to illegal drugs.

“The request for the drug test is already forwarded to the crime laboratory. We’re just waiting for a go signal for him to be brought doon sa crime lab for the drug test,” said Espino.

Yesterday, police filed against Ramirez two complaints before the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, one for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and another for illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.

Assisted by lawyer Dax Quijano, Ramirez chose not to undergo further investigation during the inquest proceeding, which would have allowed him to file a counter-affidavit and other supporting evidence to answer the accusations hurled against him.

Instead, he manifested to face the charges in court.

During the search of his home Wednesday, police recovered eight firearms: a caliber M16 5.56 (bushmaster), a caliber M16 5.56 (magpul), a caliber .30 sniper rifle, a caliber .22 rifle, two air rifles, a caliber .45 pistol, a caliber .99mm pistol, several ammunition and magazines.

Of the eight firearms, only one had a record with the Firearms and Explosives Office in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

In the initial firearm’s verification report issued by Police Superintendent Julius Egos Silgan, officer-in-charge of Firearms Licensing Division, Ramirez was found to be a holder of 10 firearms, all with expired licenses.

Ramirez said he was keeping some of the firearms as part of his collection and they were not meant to harm anyone or be used by his alleged goons.

He also claimed that the drug paraphernalia found in his house were owned by his former employee he alleged was into drugs.

Despite his arrest, Ramirez commended the Provincial Intelligence Branch headed by Police Superintendent Joie Pacito Yape for properly staging the raid.

“Wala’y planted. Mobarog ko nga ang pag-conduct nila og raid according gyod sa rules, walay binuang, very courteous, wala say nawala sa balay,” he said. — with Mylen P. Manto (FREEMAN)