He was not at home when the police raided his house at 1st Street Marisol Village here Thursday last week where only his wife and child were there to witness the alleged ruthlessness of the raid.
But that was enough to convince confessed drug pusher Henry Cura, 33, a tricycle driver, to seek a lifeline to pave his surrender to the authorities.
That’s when his friend suggested Councilor Joseph “PG” Ponce as the right person to approach because he is the chair of the city council’s Committee on Human Rights and more importantly, a close ally of President Duterte.
Clutching his seven-month old baby girl and with his wife and parents in tow, Cura sought the help of Ponce for his peaceful surrender on Friday or a week after the police raided his house.
Fearing for his life, Cura admitted that he was a former drug pusher but now has vowed to reform.
Upon his voluntary surrender, Ponce immediately brought Cura to Mayor Ed Pamintuan who was presiding over the Peace and Order Council (POC) meeting here.
City police director Senior Supt. Sydney Villafl or who was with Pamintuan in the POC meeting, received Cura and turned him over to Chief Insp. Alfredo Canlas, city police operations chief.
Canlas assured Cura that he will not be harmed but he will have to undergo “processing and profi ling” at Police Station 6.
“He will undergo processing. We will bring him to the station concerned for both processing and profiling and include him in the list of voluntary surrenderees,” Canlas said.
The police officer said Cura will not be jailed but will be made to sign an undertaking not to deal with illegal drugs anymore.
Ponce said as head of the Committee on Human Rights, the protection of Cura is his paramount concern and his surrender to the proper authorities.
P100-M shabu
As this developed, some 30 kilos (more or less) of shabu worth P100 million was seized from a house at Jasmine Street, Hensonville Subdivision in Barangay Malabanias here also on Friday.
Villaflor said the anti-illegal drug operation was conducted by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), who were armed with a search warrant, in coordination with the Regional Police Office and Angeles City Police Office.
He said a Chinese national identified as Yiye Chen was arrested in the raid.
Meanwhile, some 1,200 suspected drug pushers and users, including Cura, were presented at the Barangay Cutcut People’s Gym covered court here on Tuesday for their formal surrender.
The confessed drug pushers and users took a pledge to end their criminal activities and not to deal with illegal drugs anymore.
