Palace offers P10-M bounty for Acierto’s arrest

FILE: Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra announces during a press briefing in Malacañang that the matter concerning the closure of the resorts in Boracay is currently one of the top priorities that are being discussed by the cabinet citing that it would not only concern the environmental aspect of the issue but the economic impact as well. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA — The government is offering a PHP10-million bounty for information leading to the arrest of fugitive drug suspect and former police officer, Eduardo Acierto.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirmed to reporters Monday that Malacañang raised the amount.

“The bounty is from Malacañang, so I’m not privy to where it will be sourced. It’s not from DOJ because such amount is certainly much larger than what the DOJ could offer,” he clarified.

The DOJ Secretary likewise confirmed his agency will focus on Acierto’s coddlers and protectors.

“We will have them (coddlers) wherever Acierto may be found hiding and brought to inquest immediately,” he stressed.

He reiterated that Acierto’s coddlers are likewise criminally liable under Section 4 of the Dangerous Drugs Law (importation of illegal drugs) and stand to suffer imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of up to PHP500,000.”

Guevarra said there is so far no record indicating that Acierto has left the country.

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 35 issued an arrest warrant and hold departure order (HDO) against Acierto and his co-accused last April 12.

Covered by the orders apart from Acierto are former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Deputy Director for Administration Ismael Fajardo; importers Chan Yee Wah alias KC Chan and Zhou Quan alias Zhang Quan; consignees Vedasto Cabral Baraquel Jr. and Maria Lagrimas Catipan of Vecaba Trading; and Emily Luquingan.

Another accused, former Customs Intelligence Officer Jimmy Guban, was already taken into custody of the National Bureau of Investigation last April 17.

The DOJ indicted Acierto and other accused in court after finding probable cause in the charges filed against them by the NBI.

The case stemmed from the successive seizure in August last year of two abandoned magnetic lifters at the Port of Manila, which contained 355 kilos of shabu worth PHP2.4 billion; and of four more magnetic lifters at a warehouse in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite believed to have been used to smuggle 1.

6 tons of shabu worth PHP11 billion.