THE Alcala clan of Quezon whose ranks include former President Benigno Aquino III’s Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, and incumbent Rep. Vicente Alcala, are the most influential drug personalities in Quezon due to their political connections, President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday.
“They are all over the ranks of the police, the jury and polticians,” Duterte said in a speech before the troops at Villamor Airbase.
“I just made some cue and timing because if not, I cannot produce evidence against them.”
Duterte made his statement even as the ‘s ethics committee on Tuesday failed to rule if the complaint for improper conduct filed against Senator Leila de Lima over her alleged links to illegal drugs was “sufficient in form and substance” due to a question on its jurisdiction over the case.
Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon repeatedly objected to the assertion of Senator Panfilo Lacson that the ethics committee must first determine if the complaint filed by Abelardo de Jesus against De Lima was compliant with the rules of the Senate before proceeding to discuss the merits of the case.
Lacson, also a member of the ethics panel, stressed they should determine the form and substance of the complaint simply because “it is the primary consideration that we have to look into before we consider jurisdiction.”
But Drilon contended that they had to ascertain first if the ethics committee had jurisdiction over the complaint.
Two relatives of Liberal Party stalwart Proceso Alcala were arrested in a drug bust in Tayabas City on Sunday, a month after the officials’ brother and nephew surrendered to the police amid the government’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
Maria Fe Abutin Alcala, 58, and daughter Toni Ann, 33, sister-in-law and niece, respectively, of Proceso and Vicente, were arrested by undercover police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency agents in a buy-bust operation in the family’s house in Tayabas.
Quezon Provincial Police Chief Antonio Yarra said Maria Fe is the wife of Cerilo “Athel” Alcala, a brother of Proceso and Vicente.
On Aug. 14, Cerilo and his son Sajid, the top two suspects on the drug-watch list of the Lucena City police, surrendered to authorities. Vicente accompanied them to the city police station.
Duterte has previously tagged some politicians, including De Lima and a long list of mayors, governors and policemen of being involved in the illegal drug business in the country.
On Monday, Duterte tagged members of the Liberal Party, of whom the Alcalas were affiliated, of conspiring to remove him from power because of his war against the illegal drug menace.
In his speech, Duterte said the criticisms against his war on drugs “all started with politics.”
He said the Liberal Party, whose ranks are now members of the administration coalition, was fueling the false information about his war against drugs.
Duterte has also slammed United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and US President Barack Obama for criticizing him over his administration’s bloody war against drugs.
Duterte said that should he fail to finish his six years in office, he made a strong warning to soldiers not to believe what he called a “deep spin,” because it will “compromise our children.”
“What I would ask from you as your commander is do not let the country fall into a deep spin.”
The President also said he was now on his third and final vetting process in exposing his “thickest-ever” list of politicians and policemen involved in the illegal trade, whom he would expose soon.