Certifications from law enforcers vindicated Provincial Administrator Alfonso Damalerio II from the blunder that he was protecting the illegal drugs trade in Bohol.
The accusation came from resigned cabinet secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr who made the accusation in front of Boholano overseas contract workers in Hong Kong where he visited to campaign for his gubernatorial bid,
Damalerio even submitted himself to PDEA for a voluntary investigation in connection with the accusation of Evasco.
Damalerio challenged Evasco to produce evidence by February 28 to support his accusation.
Damalerio even vowed to put back the flagpole in Maribojoc that used to fly the Bohol flag which Evasco had pulled out and he would hang Evasco there.
Evasco did not make the public pronouncement against Damalerio and Chatto as the alter ego of the President of the Philippines.
The Capitol official said there was no official act of the President, granting him the authority to make such pronouncement nor was there an authenticated official report made by any authority duly constituted to make such a pronouncement.
Worse, there was no official proof to the existence of such report claimed by Evasco.
Confident of his innocence, Damalerio submitted himself to background check by credible authorities.
The result proved Evasco wrong in his accusation that Damalerio was a drug protector.
Damalerio obtained certifications from the Camp Crame Illegal Drugs Group, Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) that he has never been involved in the illegal drugs.
The Camp Crame illegal drugs group, PNP, NBI, and PDEA issued their respective certifications based on the result of the background check on Damalerio that they conducted separately.
The background check on Damalerio covered the period from the time of former police provincial director Dennis Agustin up to the time of police provincial director Angeles Geñorga.
From Damalerio’s side, it only means that since these agencies that cleared his name in the drugs blunder are the official source of reports about the illegal drugs operations in the Philippines, it would be a mystery where such report alleged by Evasco that landed in the hands of the President came from.
What is clear now is that the accusation was baseless and said information has been tailored to malign political rivals, Damalerio stressed.
Evasco also could not attest of his first-hand information on the allegations, yet he went out to make a public statement on it with excitement to malign the two provincial officials, especially that they belong to the rival political camp.
When Damalerio challenged him to show proof to substantiate his serious allegations, Evasco only said, “Maghuwat” (wait) for the President to make the pronouncement.
Again, his proof would only be a statement that is not corroborated by concrete proof, and yet he already made an advance announcement of it at the expense of the honor of the provincial administrator and the governor.