By Ferdinand Fabella

Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin San Pedro wants authorities and the media to drop “Alabang Boys” in describing three suspects arrested by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in a bust operation.

He said the term referring to Joseph Ramirez Tecson, Jorge Giordano Joseph and Richard Santos Brodette, who were reportedly belonged to affluent families, was giving a bad image to the city, making it less attractive to investors and visitors.

“The three suspects only form a small portion of the huge population of Ayala-Alabang and to refer them as ‘Alabang Boys’ paints a negative picture of the community,” he noted in a statement.

San Pedro said many prominent people live in the gated enclave including former President Fidel Ramos, senators and businessmen.

He said the hype was uneventful because city hall was shaping Alabang as a booming financial hub and the monicker would negate the otherwise positive appeal to business locators.

While making his appeal, San Pedro praised the anti-drug authorities for the relentless campaign to weed out a widespread scourge.

“The PDEA has proven to be an effective government agency to curb the problem of drug addiction and trafficking,” he said.

PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago said Tecson, Joseph and Brodette could be linked to the “Valle Verde” group that was allegedly supplying illegal drugs in Metro Manila and Baguio City.

The Justice Department has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the alleged P50-million bribe try on state prosecutors and PDEA officers over the release of the suspects.

President Arroyo earlier directed Dangerous Drugs Board Chairman Vicente Sotto III to keep in custody the so-called Alabang Boys.

The three were arrested on Sept. 20 in separate operations in Alabang, Muntinlupa City and Cubao in Quezon City .

The following day, they submitted themselves for DoJ preliminary investigation.

But the case was dismissed following a resolution from the department’s National Prosecution Service on Dec. 2 for lack of probable cause.