Charles Caleb Colton once said power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads. No man is wise enough, nor good enough to be trusted with unlimited power.

And just like the case of DJ Montano, the Philippines so-called “high society” is at it again with the very same key players involved…Prior to that, certain quarters had tried to give the local media the runaround (including Channel V’s JM Rodriguez, actor Jomari Yllana and actress Lovi Poe) by claiming that it was a namesake of the younger Singson who has been detained in Hong Kong.

Eventually, the suspect’s father felt compelled to confirm his son’s arrest. The elder Singson (a big bravo to Chavit) also virtually verified the congressman’s offense when he was quoted saying in several media interviews, “let this incident be a lesson to all”..!

OK, let’s give Rep. Ronald Singson of Ilocos Sur the benefit of the doubt. After all, it is not as though he has already been tried and found guilty of trying to bring cocaine and a couple of downers into Hong Kong.

The question, however, begs to be asked: What could possibly be the motive of the authorities in the Chinese special administrative region for charging Singson with drug trafficking?

The congressman was intercepted at the Customs area of Chek Lap Kok airport on July 11 while allegedly in possession of 26.1 grams of cocaine and two diazepam tablets.

Singson’s arrest, however, was made public only last week after his father, Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson of Ilocos Sur, confirmed rumors about the congressman’s arrest.

Prior to that, certain quarters had tried to give the local media the runaround by claiming that it was a namesake of the younger Singson who has been detained in Hong Kong.

Eventually, the suspect’s father felt compelled to confirm his son’s arrest. The elder Singson also virtually verified the congressman’s offense when he was quoted saying in several media interviews, “let this incident be a lesson to all” or words to that effect.

If the initial findings of Hong Kong officials are correct, Singson made the grievous mistake of trying to bring illegal drugs into the former British colony, where China’s draconian laws against “narco-trafficking” have been enforced without fear or favor since the 1997 turnover.

Like many other countries, China is grappling with a worsening drug problem. The growing prosperity that the mainland is experiencing, especially on its economically dynamic east coast, has turned it into a lucrative market for so-called upscale narcotics, such as cocaine.

Cocaine is produced only in a handful of South American countries. Long regarded as the drug of choice of rich, young—and even middle-aged—Americans, it is also sought by their copycat counterparts in the increasingly prosperous countries of East Asia.

The recent interception of cocaine shipments in the waters off Samar island is a taken as a sign by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and equivalent authorities in other parts of Asia as a sign that the Philippines has become a major transshipment point of cocaine from South America.

With a street value running into hundreds of millions of pesos, the cocaine intercepted in Samar are far too expensive for most local addicts to afford, PDEA officials claimed. The drug shipment’s final destination was in all likelihood the increasingly wealthy—and self-indulgent—residents of China’s booming cities.

Singson’s camp has tried to minimize the gravity of his alleged crime by pointing out that he was found to be carrying “just a small amount” cocaine. Sources familiar with China’s legal system, however, warn the congressman’s relatives and friends against complacency.

China has long ascribed to an “exemplary” form of justice, meaning the authorities there tend to make examples out of offenders in order to discourage others who may be thinking of following suit.

Drug trafficking, in particular, carries a maximum sentence of death that is usually carried out with a single gunshot to the head. In fact, China is the world’s leading practitioner of capital punishment, which is meted out in cases ranging from murder to corruption.

As if that were not enough, the death convict’s family is expected to pay for the cost of the execution—including the price of the bullet—as well as the disposal of the corpse.

Equally disturbing is the probability that authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport either failed to detect the contraband that was allegedly in Singson’s possession or looked the other way, literally.

News reports have quoted Jose Honrado, chief of the Manila International Airport Authority, as saying that Singson was frisked and “even took off his shoes” prior to boarding his flight to Hong Kong.

Honrado reportedly added that the congressman and his baggage also went through the airport’s scanning machines.

Other reports, however, indicated that Singson was “assisted” at the Centennial terminal’s inspection line by the gofer of an unnamed airport official.

The congressman may have been regarded as a VIP here, but overseas he is just another traveler. By Dan Mariano