Mayor Lim: No lawyer, no visit for son in drug case

MANILA, Philippines - No lawyer, no visit, no help. On this note, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim refused Monday to even visit his son Manny, 44, who was arrested in a drug bust in downtown Manila last Saturday. "Kung anuman, pagdusahan niya (Whatever trouble he got himself into, he has to bear it)," dzBB radio quoted Lim as saying to the Manila Police District (MPD) during its regular flag-raising ceremony. The younger Lim and two companions were arrested during an operation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in downtown Manila last Saturday. PDEA head Dionisio Santiago said Mayor Lim even refused offers from alumni associations in his school in the United States to help his son. "Marami nag-offer na alumni association na tutulong. Pero ang sabi ni mayor don't interfere, he is old enough to be answerable. Treat him as an ordinary violator and throw the book at him (Many of his former classmates offered to bail out his son but the mayor told them not to interfere. He told law enforcers to treat his son as an ordinary violator and to throw the book at him)," Santiago said in a separate interview on dzRH radio. Also, Santiago said he himself was surprised to see Lim's son being arrested, saying the operation stemmed from a tip sent to them via text messaging. "Agree naman namin open city. Very clear ang kanyang position no sacred cow. Unfortunately sa operation na ito nabigla kami (We agreed that Manila would be an open city against crime. The mayor's position was very clear that there would be no sacred cows. Unfortunately even we were surprised when the mayor's son turned out to be one of the suspects)," he said. Santiago said the younger Lim is also a "kumpare" of his own son. "Pati ako hindi ko alam (Even I did not know that at first)," he said. On the other hand, Santiago said that three rooms at the Pharoah Hotel were occupied, and that it could have been a bigger bust had they had enough time to obtain search warrants. - GMANews.TV