Is Mr. Leung still alive?

"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 By Alex P. Vidal NEW YORK CITY -- When I nominated his name in the Iloilo Olympics Society (IOS) board during the lunching of the "Spirit of Olympism" at the Sarabia Manor Hotel in Iloilo City in the Philippines in 1991, Sin Leung Kim, a Filipino-Chinese businessman, did not decline. He smiled, in fact; a gesture that did not sit well with the late former Leganes, Iloilo mayor Josil Jaen, who immediately opposed the nomination. Jaen didn't hide his displeasure toward Leung, whom the mayor had suspected to be involved in illegal drugs, among other reasons. "Indi lang na siya iya 'Lex a. Sugiran ta lang ka next time kon ngaa (Don't include him here, Lex. I will tell you the reason why later)," said Jaen, who died of pneumonia on February 3, 2017. -o0o- Another reason why Leung was not elected--or was not accepted--aside from Jaen's opposition, was because the late former Iloilo board member Vicente "Bugoy" Molejona, then administrator of the Iloilo Sports Complex (ISC), "didn't know him from Adam." Molejona, a protege of the late former Iloilo Vice Governor Ramon Duremdes, "unsung hero" behind Iloilo Province's hosting of the 1991 Palarong Pambansa, was among the precursors  of the IOS, along with the late Iloilo 4th district Rep. Narciso Monfort, Eng. Ramon Hechanova, Jaen, among other Ilonggo sports leaders during the administration of Gov. Sim Grino. Leung, a sports patron who claimed he was close to then President Fidel V. Ramos, was in the event after being "invited" by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) commissioner Celso Dayrit, an FVR appointee. "Those politicians (referring to the Ilonggos) don't know me, but President FVR and (First Lady) Mrs. Ming Ramos know me personally," Leung boasted. -o0o- Leung's associates included then controversial former Philippine Track and Field Association (Patafa) president Go Teng Kok, who was also reportedly linked in illegal drugs. Jaen didn't anymore tell this writer the other "main" reasons why they disliked Leung since Leung was already "outside the kulambo" after IOS's formal organization. Leung was disappointed but didn't show his emotion during the gathering. He gamely rose from his seat and left. But he continued to communicate with this writer especially when he and fellow sports patrons from a Filipino-Chinese group donated sports equipment and cash to Filipino athletes departing for training abroad or to compete in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. "When I help (the athletes) I don't advertise it like what the politicians are doing," said Leung, who asked me to write about his generosity to the poor athletes "for record purposes." Leung did show to me several photos where he was together with FVR and other prominent political figures in the Philippines. -o0o- Leung also confirmed he knew prominent Bacolod businessman Ricard "Cano" Tan, known then as "Bacolod's football godfather." Tan, a very outspoken and active sports and political personality, became a Bacolod City councilor. On December 14, 2018 at around 5 p.m., Tan and his wife, Nita, survived an ambush staged by unknown assailants in Brgy. Alangilan in Bacolod City while on board their Nissan Patrol SUV. They did not suffer bullet injuries, according to Senior Inspector John Christopher Masangkay, Police Station 5 chief, but Tan had slight injuries caused by broken glass. President Rodrigo R. Duterte had tagged Tan as a "drug lord". Tan, a generous sports patron like Leung, has not responded to Duterte's accusation and has not spoken to the media since the ambush. Amid the furor on big time sports patrons allegedly involved in illegal drugs, Leung suddenly crossed my mind.  Where is Leung now? Can or did he survive under the hard-hitting Duterte administration? Is he still alive? Was our friend, the late Mayor Jaen, right?