Marijuana seized in raid

Eighteen sachets of suspected marijuana were seized by the police during a raid at the house of an alleged drug peddler in Bacolod City yesterday.

The police said the confiscated substance had been found in the house of Fidel Jemena, alias Panoy, 44, of Ciocon Road, Brgy 26, Bacolod, by a team from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the National Bureau of Investigation at about 8:30 a.m. yesterday, Inspector Joemarie Occeño of the PDEA, said.

Jemena, who managed to escape through a backdoor while his wife blocked the officers, was still the subject of hot-pursuit operations yesterday, Occeño said.

He said their informants said the items, estimated to be worth about P1,300, were part of a big volume of marijuana that Jemena and his companions are allegedly planning to dispose of during the Pana-ad sa Negros celebrations this week, he added.

The raid was conducted on the strength of a search warrant issued by Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 4 Judge Danilo Amisola, and was witnessed by Brgy. 26 chairman, Antonio Arroz, kagawads Juan Jocson Jr., Angel Barrientos Jr., and Radyo Agong reporter Benedict Intona, a PDEA report said.

Occeño said they have received reports that Jemena and his companions had transferred most of the marijuana to another house before their operation.

He added that Jemena has not been arrested before but his name is well-known among law enforcers.

Occeño also said one reason why drug pushers persist in Brgy. 26 is the uncooperative attitude of residents towards the police.

He also said they have submitted the items to the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory at the Negros Occidental Police Office and will file appropriate charges against Jemena today if they are found positive.*PP

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Traffic enforcer ‘mauled’
me, trisikad driver claims

A trisikad driver claimed yesterday that he was manhandled by a traffic enforcer for violations of road regulations in Bacolod City.

Jay Jimenez said he was punched on the eye and kicked by Bacolod Traffic Authority Office member Alan Trasporto after a chase along San Sebastian Street, near Dawis, Brgy. 14, Bacolod, at about 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Jimenez, who said he is also a part-time tanod in Brgy. 35, Bacolod, said Trasporto mauled him when the traffic aide and two of his companions cornered him near a warehouse, because he had refused to surrender his black trisikad.

He claimed that he did not go beyond their designated boundary as he was just parking his vehicle along with other drivers.

Other drivers admitted that they go beyond their designated routes because they cannot earn if they just stay within their barangays due to the increasing number of trisikad drivers in Bacolod.

Trasporto said Jimenez and many of his fellow drivers who ply the Dawis area, have been habitually violating their routes, often driving beside bigger vehicles like 10-wheeler trucks, causing in congestion at the intersection of San Sebastian and San Juan streets.

Trasporto, who admitted kicking Jimenez, said that he had lost his temper when he and his colleagues nearly fell from their motorcycles while chasing the trisikad driver.

He also said many drivers are really arrogant and even provoke them.

He also lamented the practice of some media outlets of not getting their side whenever drivers complain against them.

Meanwhile, Senior Inspector Levy Pangue, Bacolod City Police Office Traffic Management Unit chief, said that Jimenez and Trasporto have already settled their differences.*PP

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