The General Services Officer of Talisay City who was recently arrested for possession of illegal drugs and their paraphernalia, is now a free man, at least for now.

This is because Archibald Tuvilla was able to post bail of P160,000 for two drug cases filed against him by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. Tuvilla, said to be a human rights activist, was freed from the Talisay BJMP detention cell at about 5 p.m. yesterday.

However, his companion, identified as Sannil Arcenas, who is a job order casual employee the Talisay City government, was still in jail last night, for failure to post bail.

PDEA operatives have been criticized for the delay in filing the drug-related charges against Tuvilla and Arcenas, who were arrested on Feb.3 in Talisay City on the strength of a search warrant issued by Judge Roberto Chiongson

. Tuvilla, in turn, accused the PDEA agents led by Inspector Joemarie Occeño of extorting P200,000 from him.

Occeño vehemently denied this, saying it is the usual alibi of persons arrested for possessing prohibited drugs.

Four sachets of suspected shabu and its paraphernalia were recovered from the Nissan Sentra SGX vehicle of Tuvilla, PDEA said.

Meanwhile Tuvilla, in an interview with Bombo Radyo, hinted that he may not pursue counter charges against the PDEA. He added he will prove his innocence in court.

Talisay City Mayor Eric Saratan said he will designate an officer in charge of the General Services Office on Monday to replace Tuvilla who is now on leave.

Occeño said the delay in the filing was due to the revision of the complaints, and its referral to PDEA legal advisers to ensure an air tight case against the arrested persons.

The case of Tuvilla and Arcenas followed that of Talisay City Treasurer Levi Doronila, who was also arrested and charged for drug-related offenses in November last year.*GPB

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