Johnny Midnight admits son a drug user but denies bribery try

MANILA, Philippines – The father of one of the so-called “Alabang boys" admitted that his son was involved in the use of illegal drugs while he denied pulling connections to secure the release of his son from the custody of the Philippine Anti-Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). In a radio interview, Johnny Joseph - more popularly known as Johnny Midnight - said his son, Jorge Jordana, was only a “social" drug user and that it was normal for any young person to “experiment" with drug use. The younger Joseph is one of the three wealthy young drug trafficking suspects nabbed last September by PDEA operatives. “Hindi lahat ng bata [ang gumagamit] pero (Not all young people use drugs but) some of them get involved in experimental use. My son is not an addict. He has tried it socially. It’s just a social thing," Joseph said. On Sept. 21, Joseph and his companions, Richard Santos Brodett and Joseph Ramirez Tecson, submitted themselves the Justice Department’s (DOJ) preliminary investigation. The case, however, was dismissed following a resolution from the National Prosecution Service of the DOJ last Dec. 2. The PDEA alleged that Brodett, Tecson, and Joseph’s family members attempted to pay off some P50 million to a DOJ prosecutor handling the case to dismiss the said case. But in the interview, the older Joseph denied the bribery allegation as he bared that he received requests for the bribe. “We have received feelers that ‘baka gusto niyong ma-settle ito’. Hindi kami kumagat (We have received feelers that maybe you want to settle the case. We did not agree with them). We do not have the money. My life has been open, my bank accounts are open. I do not have that money. It is not possible for me to agree to that," Joseph said. Joseph, however, declined to name where the so-called “feelers" came from. At the same time, Joseph likewise chided the PDEA and a major broadsheet for giving undue judgment to their family. “So much has been said about the case and it is all based on opinion and not on facts. Na-dismiss na ang kaso, hinatulan pa (The case was already dismissed and yet they still give their ill judgment). My reaction is, para bang plantado na (it was all laid out). Hinatulan na (They judged him) without the proper steps," Joseph said. On Tuesday, a national broadsheet quoted PDEA Special Enforcement Service head Major Ferdinand Marcelino as saying that the P50 million bribe attempt to a DOJ prosecutor was just one of three bribery attempts. Marcelino said an emissary from the Tecson family offered him P3 million to expedite the release of the three suspects. But because “he and his men did not give in," two other bribe attempts ensued. The P3 million offer was likewise raised to P20 million. In a separate radio interview, PDEA Legal and Prosecution Service lawyer Alvaro Lazaro affirmed Marcelino’s expose, saying “he would not disclose such claim if it weren’t true." “Ang masasabi ko lang, anti-drug crusader po siya. Hindi po siya maglalabas ng ganiyang claim kung di totoo ang kaniyang claim (All I can say is he is an anti-drug crusader. He will not make such claim if it weren’t true)," Lazaro said. DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez had earlier ordered a reinvestigation on the case against Tecson, Brodett, and Joseph, thereby nullifying the release order for the three suspects from wealthy families. Gonzalez likewise ordered a probe on the alleged bribe try. - Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV