DATU Michael Bagul, president of the Dagupan City Muslim Association, has denied he is involved in any illegal drug dealing, and decried being labeled a “drug lord” by the government and the local media.

In a handwritten letter (in Pilipino) to The PUNCH, with an attached copy of his counter-affidavit in a complaint filed against him by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) before the City Prosecutors Office, Bagul said all the accusations leveled against him by PDEA were untrue.

The description “drug lord” was contained in an article posted on May 31, 2009 at 07:44 p.m. in the government-owned website of the Regional Development Council of Region 1 (www.Ilocos.-net.ph), and was used to refer to Bagul “as the leader of the notorious Bagul Drug Group.”

The article, entitled “Dagupan Prosecutor releases Drug Lord 2nd time around”, was based on the report of PDEA who arrested Bagul in the afternoon of March 23, 2009.

Bagul said he has been living in Dagupan for 30 years and over that period he has maintained a clean name.

“Kaya, sana malinis ninyo ang pangalan ko. Hindi dapat akong tawaging drug lord dahil hindi ko yan pinangarap sa buhay ko,” Bagul wrote to The PUNCH.

Bagul maintained he is not into selling shabu or any prohibited drug, pointing out that being used to living as a poor man, he has never dreamt to enrich himself through illegal means.

He said the PDEA arrested and accused him on two occasions based on fabricated charges.

The first time was on January 30, 2008 when, after being informed by his son that armed men were seen inside his house while he and some of his visitors were praying inside a mosque, he immediately rushed home and was promptly arrested by PDEA agents.

He recounted that as he entered the gate, PDEA agents pointed their handguns at him and forced him to go with them to San Fernando City, La Union where he was simply told that they have seized something from him, without indicating what it was.

In the second case, said Bagul, PDEA agents entered his business stall and told him they had arrested someone at Tondaligan (where a Muslim community is located) and the man asked for him for help.

When Bagul replied that he did not care about the arrested person, the PDEA agents grabbed him, poked him with hand guns, then dragged him outside the stall

In his counter-affidavit, Bagul stated that Roland Martin Roquero, together with PO1 Edwin Vallo and other members of the PDEA Special Enforcement Team in Pangasinan “arrived at my store without any search warrant.”

He urged the police and PDEA to go after the real drug lords, and not him—LM

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