“The war on drugs is wrong, both tactically and morally. It assumes that people are too stupid, too reckless, and too irresponsible to decide whether and under what conditions to consume drugs. The war on drugs is morally bankrupt.” –Larry Elder
When I nominated Filipino-Chinese businessman Sin Leung Kim to the Iloilo Olympics Society (IOS) Board in 1991, during the launch of “Spirit of Olympism” at the Sarabia Manor in Iloilo City, he did not decline. In fact, he smiled; however, the gesture did not sit well with former Leganes Mayor Josil Jaen, who immediately opposed the nomination.
The former city official did not hide his displeasure with the businessman, whom he suspected of involvement with illegal drugs. “Indi lang na siya iya ‘Lex a (Don’t include him here, Lex),” Jaen said. “Sugiran ta lang ka next time kon ngaa (I will tell you the reason why later).”
Another reason Leung was not elected (or not accepted) was because of former Iloilo Provincial Board Member Vicente ‘Bugoy’ Molejona, then administrator of the Iloilo Sports Complex, who “didn’t know him from Adam.” The late provincial official was a protégé of former Iloilo Vice Governor Ramon Duremdes, the “unsung hero” behind Iloilo hosting the 1991 Palarong Pambansa. He, along with former Iloilo fourth district Rep. Narciso Monfort, Eng. Ramon Hechanova, Jaen, among others, were precursors to the IOS.
Leung, a “sports patron” who claimed to be close with then-President Fidel V. Ramos, was “invited” to an event by Ramos-appointed Philippine Olympic Committee Commissioner Celso Dayrit.
“Those [Ilonggo] politicians don’t know me, but President FVR and Mrs. Ming Ramos (then-First Lady Amelita Ramos) know me personally,” he boasted.
Jaen never told me the other reasons he disliked Leung, particularly since the latter was already “outside the kulambo” after the IOS nomination.
Leung was disappointed but didn’t show it; he just rose from his seat and left.
He kept in touch with me, especially when he and his colleagues from a Filipino-Chinese group donated sports equipment for athletes training overseas or competing in the Southeast Asian Games.
“When I help, I don’t advertise it like what the politicians are doing,” said Leung, who asked me to write about his generosity.
He also mentioned knowing Ricardo Tan, an outspoken and active sports and political personality, who was elected Bacolod City councilor in 2016.
Last December, Tan and his wife were ambushed in Bacolod City’s Barangay Alangilan. According to Police Station 5 chief, Police Captain John Christopher Masangkay, there were no injuries reported aside from the city official suffering minor injuries from shattered glass.
Tan, a sports patron like Leung, was earlier tagged as a “drug lord” by President Rodrigo Duterte but the city official has never responded to the accusations nor discussed the ambush with the media.
Given the recent furor, it brought Leung to mind. Where is he now? Has he survived the Duterte administration? Is he still alive? Was Jaen right?/WDJ