Mark Anthony nabbed for 1 K of marijuana

MANILA, Philippines – Actor Mark Anthony Fernandez was arrested in Angeles City, Pampanga at around 8:30 p.m. on Monday after police allegedly found a kilo of marijuana in his Ford Mustang.?

Police manning a checkpoint reportedly tried to pull over Fernandez’s yellow Mustang along MacArthur Highway in Barangay Virgen delos Remedios.

Instead of stopping, Fernandez allegedly sped south toward San Fernando but was stalled by traffic a kilometer away. ?Pursuing police officers said they were compelled to shoot at the front tires of Fernandez’s car, with license plates ZGE-667.

A search of his car yielded the marijuana hidden in a box wrapped with masking tape in one of his bags.

Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, Central Luzon police director, said Fernandez, 37, of 84 Don Rufino St. Tahanan Village, Parañaque City is presently detained at the Angeles City police station while appropriate charges are being prepared against him.

Aquino said members of the Angeles City Police Station 6 led by Chief Insp. Francisco Guevarra were conducting a checkpoint when they spotted the yellow Mustang with no license plate attached in front.

Insp. Nelson Mendoza and Police Officer 2 Fernando Ladrillo signaled the driver, who was alone in the car, to stop.

“Because the window of the car was open Ladrillo asked the driver for the pertinent papers of his car. PO2 Jayson Dimaculangan conducted visual inspection and spotted an open dark blue bag and on top of its contents was a torn plastic bag with what appeared to be suspected marijuana,” Aquino said.

Dimaculangan told his colleagues, “May marijuana.”

At that point, the driver sped away. The police team gave chase until the suspect was caught in heavy traffic along the highway.

The policemen found marijuana inside the dark blue bag weighing 1 kilo, a small yellow plastic with marijuana residue and a mechanical grinder of marijuana leaves.

Fernandez denied owning the kilo of dried marijuana leaves, claiming it was planted.

He admitted the small pack of marijuana was his and that his doctor had advised him to take medical marijuana for his cancer since 2008.

Fernandez is the son of the late actor Rudy Fernandez and actress and former Parañaque councilor Alma Moreno.

He was a member of the group of young actors called gwapings in the 1990s. Fernandez had previously undergone rehabilitation for drug abuse.

Will it succeed?

Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Pangilinan expressed doubts yesterday that President Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs will achieve total success, pointing out that thousands of suspected drug pushers and users have recently surrendered in Davao City where Duterte served as mayor for two decades.

Pangilinan cited a July 27, 2016 report from SunStar Davao, showing 4,938 drug users and pushers surrendered to the Davao City police based on records of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in Davao region.

“If the Davao City anti-illegal drugs campaign did not succeed in stamping out and eliminating pushers and addicts in Davao City under President Duterte’s 24-year stint as mayor, what makes us think that the nationwide campaign against illegal drugs will succeed in six months (extended to another six months)?” Pangilinan said on his personal Facebook account. – With Paolo Romero, Ding Cervantes, Ric Sapnu