No political color in anti-drug drive – Bunye

President Arroyo’s spokesman brushed aside opposition accusations that a renewed crackdown against drug dealers was politically motivated.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said yesterday there was "no truth" to accusations that the anti-drug campaign was intended to make Mrs. Arroyo look good and to make likely opposition presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson look bad before the 2004 presidential elections.

"This drug campaign launched by our President is an honest-to-goodness campaign when we recognized the huge problem created by (illegal) drugs," Bunye said in a radio interview.

"There is no individual with political ambitions who is being targeted so there is nothing that they should be worried about," he added.

Bunye said charges of political harassment made by Lacson couldn’t be blamed on the President.

"There is no political motivation whatsoever because, you very well know, the President is a non-candidate (for the 2004 elections)," he said.

Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, has gained a reputation for being tough on crime but has also been accused by pro-administration figures of coddling drug syndicates.

Recently, a watchman’s training center co-owned by Lacson’s brother, Romulo, was raided by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) under Chief Superintendent Eduardo Matillano.

The policemen seized a kilo of high-grade C-4 explosives, a grenade, and other illegal devices on the premises. Lacson’s camp has said this was another attempt to undermine the senator.

Lacson expressed disappointment over the "clumsy and illegal raid" conducted by the CIDG, adding that his brother and other incorporators of the firm that owned the training center are set to file criminal charges against those who conducted the raid, after several witnesses confirmed that the evidence purportedly seized during the raid were "planted."

Bunye said "there was no politics" involved in the raid and that it was just a coincidence that the training center was co-owned by Lacson’s brother. He also said that the policemen who conducted the raid couldn’t be blamed since they were merely carrying out their duty as law enforcers. — Marichu Villanueva, AFP