College president linked to drugs remains at large – PDEA chief Aquino

Mick Basa

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College president linked to drugs remains at large – PDEA chief Aquino
Samson Molao, president of the Cotabato Foundation for Science and Technology, is accused of operating a drug den inside the school

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The president of a state-run school in Cotabato who was the target of an anti-drug operation in January remains at large, the chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said Monday, February 19.

Authorities have not been able to find Samson Molao, who is president of the Cotabato Foundation for Science and Technology (CFCST), Director General Aaron Aquino, chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

“Until now he’s at large,” Aquino told a press conference, adding the arrest was non-bailable.

On January 29, anti-illegal drug enforcers raided the staff house of Molao inside the state-run school in the Cotabato town of Arakan, but Molao could not be found.

Instead, they discovered substances believed to be shabu, along with an M14 rifle, an AK47 rifle, two .45 caliber pistols, 4 M16 rifles with bullets, a carbine rifle, 4 shotguns, a magazine, and a handheld radio, according to a DXND report.

Molao was accused of operating a drug den inside the CFCST.

A few days later, Molao’s legal counsel, Israelito Torreon, questioned the accusation, and demanded that authorites arrest his client with the permission of the court, according to a Philippine Star report.

But Aquino on Monday insisted they were there to arrest no one but Molao. “It just turns out that we were able to arrest security and high-powered firearms and shabu.”

“During the time that we broke inside the school he was out. And this is a government-run school, and yet the highest member of that school is involved in drugs, he added.

The January 29 operation stemmed from a search warrant issued by Judge Alendrex Betoya of the Regional Trial Court in Kabacan.

Aquino said he has no knowledge of Molao’s whereabouts. The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines said they began efforts to find the wanted college president a few weeks ago.

The president became controversial after he was implicated in plotting attempts to kill school personnel who were critical of his management.

In 2013, CFCST Vice President Delfin Plang Moreno was gunned down after reportedly holding a rally in the same year a building was built in the shadow of controversies.

Molao was appointed as president in 2011. – Rappler.com

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