BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan ordered concerned offices of the local government to conduct an investigation on the alleged involvement of an employee of the City Treasury Office in the sale of illegal drugs following his arrest during a recent buy bust operation conducted by combined police operatives and anti-narcotics agents.
The local chief executive expressed disappointment over the involvement of the said local government employee in the sale of illegal drugs after all those who were found to have been using prohibited drugs during the conduct of the random drug test among city hall workers were cleared when they were given a chance to reverse the findings through various means.
“We will not tolerate the involvement of our government workers to the use and even the trade of illegal drugs. We will institute the appropriate measures to ascertain the veracity of his involvement to the sale of illegal drugs before we will institute the appropriate proceedings to determine the penalty to be imposed on him,” Domogan stressed.
He said that the stiffest penalty against the employee who was apprehended during an anti-drug buy bust operation will be dismissal from public service considering the gravity of the offense committed.
Earlier, an employee of the local government of Baguio was arrested Tuesday by anti-narcotics agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Cordillera and local police them in a sting operation at Upper General Luna, Laubac Road.
PDEA-CAR authorities identified the arrested government worker as Randolph Ryan Marrero Estigoy alias Randy, 39, resident of Happy Glenn Loop, Salud Mitra, Baguio City and ticket checker of the Baguio City Treasury Office.
Based on the PDEA-Car report, he was cuffed for selling a heat-sealed sachet containing suspected shabu worth P10,000 to an undercover agent.
Upon his arrest, Estigoy yielded the buy-bust money used during the transaction that was consummated in the said place of incident.
The suspect is temporarily detained at the PDEA-CAR jail facility and will be charged before the proper authorities for violating Section 5 (Sale of Dangerous Drugs) of Republic Act Number 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
PDEA-CAR officials pointed out the arrest of Estigoy serves as a stern warning to public officials and employees to veer away from illegal drug activities and that there will be no let-up in cleansing the government of drug personalities.
Domogan underscored that the local government remains aggressive in cleansing its ranks against the proliferation of illegal drugs that is why concerned offices will look into the possibility of conducting another round of random drug test to all government workers to ascertain that no local government worker will be using illegal drugs or involved in the selling of contrabands.
He called on local government employees who continue to be involved in the sale and use of illegal drugs that their days are counted considering that the city will do all available means to go after them to clean its ranks of erring workers to guarantee the integrity of those involved in the delivery of services to the people.
By Dexter A. See
