INFANTA. This backwater town in northern Quezon used to be peaceful and uneventful, until two recent events happened there that put the municipality in the news.
First, the assassination attempt on Infanta Mayor Filipina Grace America, which the Philippine National Police is still investigating as we write. Mayor America was wounded in the attack, along with her driver, but they survived.
There have been many speculations on why the mayor became the target of gunmen, at this time when the campaign for local elections is about to begin. Politics may have been behind this, but it would seem that America is not engaged in any heated political contest.
The mayor's opposition to the construction of Kaliwa Dam is another cause for speculation, or perhaps being the top government official in a town where the rebel New People's Army (NPA) has some sort of influence, Mayor America might have incurred the ire of the rebels.
Some people had tried to link the failed assassination to the ongoing political rivalry in the gubernatorial race in Quezon, where incumbent Gov. Danny Suarez is slugging it out with Rep. Angelina "Helen" Tan of the 4th district.
America is said to be aligned with Suarez, but this is quite a stretch because there is no sense or political gain to be achieved by killing America, and she is reportedly in good terms with her vice mayor, councilors and other officials.
Biggest Drugs Haul
Meanwhile, elements of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Task Force on Illegal Drugs, NBI-Quezon, and Quezon Police Provincial Office have arrested 10 drug suspects and seized three vans loaded with around 1,500 kilos (1.5 metric tons) of shabu in Barangay Comon in Infanta.
Police intercepted the suspects aboard three white Nissan Urvan vans, resulting in the confiscation of 80 sacks of shabu with an estimated weight of 1,650 kilograms and a market value of P10 billion.
Town police commander Maj. Francis Aldrich Garcia said they flagged down the three vans containing illegal drugs at 4 a.m. Tuesday, March 15.
Quezon Police director Col. Joel Villanueva said the operation was led by NBI-Quezon headed by Senior Agent Eliezer Salcedo.
The arrested suspects were identified as Jaymart Gallardo, 29, resident of Quezon City; Alvin Ibardo, 41, of Antipolo Rizal; Mark Brian L. Abonita, 26, of Tanay, Rizal; Kennedy L. Abonita, 24, of Tanay, Rizal; Dante C. Mañoso, 35, of Tanay, Rizal; Marvin A. Gallardo, 39, of Tanay, Rizal; Eugene G. Bandoma, 38, of Tanay, Rizal; Jenard Samson, 29, of Tanay, Rizal; Reynante Alfuerto, 42, of Tanay, Rizal, and Jamelanie Samson, 34, also of Tanay, Rizal.
The authorities, together with media and barangay officials of Infanta, brought the contraband to the Taytay Tiangge Building in Taytay for marking and inventory.
Infanta Vice Mayor and Acting Mayor Lord Allan Ruanto theorized that the drugs might have been dumped in the shorelines of Infanta from vessels coming from the Pacific Ocean as drug syndicates are known to use the coastal towns of Quezon as transshipment points for their illegal goods.
The NBI and the Philippine National Police should be commended for this accomplishment.
A question for our readers -- do you notice that illegal fundraising activities such as drugs smuggling, jueteng, kidnapping for ransom and gambling usually become rampant during election season?
So, what's new in Philippine politics?