Troubled North Cotabato state school to get caretaker

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has approved a recommendation to name a caretaker a state college whose president the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is looking for.

 

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said Tuesday that Duterte has agreed to his proposal to designate Clint Hassan as officer-in-charge of the Cotabato Foundation College of Science and Technology to prevent the absence of its president from affecting operations.

 

The president of CFCST, Samsom Molao, has been missing since January 29, the day PDEA agents raided his official campus residence and found some P500,000 worth of shabu.

 

Duterte on Monday wrote "approved" and affixed his signature to Piñol's February 1 letter recommending Hassan as caretaker for the CFCST in Arakan, North Cotabato.

 

Piñol released copies of the letter with Duterte's signature to central Mindanao media on Thursday night.

 

Hassan is a senior communication specialist in the central office of the Department of Agriculture.

 

Piñol said he is confident Hassan can restore order to the troubled school.

 

PDEA has charged Molao with violation of Section 6, Article 2 of the Republic Act 9165. The provision specifically outlaws the operation of drug dens.

 

Levi Ortiz, director of PDEA’s Special Enforcement Service, said they have also filed an illegal firearm possessions case against Molao at the North Cotabato provincial prosecutor’s office.

 

Law enforcement officers recovered 13 guns from Molao's house.

 

The military's Western Mindanao Command and the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are helping look for Molao in Pagalungan and Montawal towns in Maguindanao, where Molao is believed to have family ties.

 

Piñol said he is grateful to President Duterte for acting favorably on the recommendation.

 

"I am very confident Mr. Hassan can revitalize the operation of CFCST," Piñol, provincial chairman of the administration PDP-Laban party in North Cotabato, said.