QUEZON City Councilor Hero Bautista admitted this week that he used prohibited drugs but insisted that he was a “victim,” and not a protector of narcotics traffickers.
Delivering a privilege speech at the city council, Bautista, the younger brother of Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, said he was taking a leave of absence to undergo rehabilitation.
“I take the moral high ground and in order to protect my name, I am volunteering to embark on a journey; a journey of soul-searching and self-discovery,” the newly elected councilor for Quezon City’s fourth district, said.
The councilor’s journey of self-discovery, however, seems to have been a reluctant one, at best, and there seems very little that puts him on the “moral high ground.”
Would he even be admitting to using illegal substances had he not tested positive in a surprise drug test of city hall’s legislative employees?
Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, who spearheaded the surprise drug test, said the councilor had initially complained that the tests were erroneous, and that he demanded to be tested again, even though he had tested positive, too, in the conformity test.
The vice mayor also said she had informed the mayor about the drug tests in early August, but kept silent so he could make the announcements.
On Aug. 10, a public affairs information officer said the mayor admitted during the weekly executive committee meeting with city hall’s department heads that his 44-year-old brother had tested positive for drug use.
The public affairs information services officer said the younger Bautista would have to take a leave of absence during his six-month rehabilitation treatment, and that his position would not be filled up since he would still be allowed to go back to work. He added that the councilor would not be subjected to expulsion proceedings.
While the councilor talked about the moral high ground, what were the voters who elected him to office supposed to feel about their lack of representation while he is away discovering himself for six months? Or about the councilor’s misrepresentation of himself during the campaign as a responsible candidate worthy of their votes? And assuming the councilor returns after a six-month rehabilitation period, are Quezon City residents expected to welcome him back with open arms and push away reasonable doubts that a recovering junkie could just as easily fall off the wagon again when nobody is looking?
It might be tempting to dismiss the case of Hero Bautista as a local one, but it is yet another example of the double standard at work in the government’s anti-drug campaign. Ordinary junkies get the bullet; junkies with a name get a journey of self-discovery—then get the opportunity to fool us again.