Monday, May 22, 2006
Shabu dealer gets life imprisonment
By Jay Dooma Balnig
AN illegal-drug dealer selling shabu in his store along Rizal-Pala-Pala II, City Proper was sentenced to life imprisonment last Friday.
In a 15-page decision, Judge Victor Gelvezon, Regional Trial Court Branch 36, meted said sentence to Roberto Espinosa following his arrest last Jan. 22, 2004 after he was caught selling P300 worth of shabu to PO2 Peter Hautea, member of the now defunct Regional Special Operations Group (Rsog). Hautea's team, which was headed by Chief Inspector Samuel Nacion, arrested Espinosa after that.
Recovered from his possession were the marked money used for the operation and the shabu.
Espinosa however, denied the allegations during the trial. He said he was sitting on a bench on his stall when the cops arrived, took a bag hanging at the fence near the area, emptied it and found several elongated sachets containing what they suspected as shabu.
But the prosecution's witness said the said stuff that the police recovered belonged to the accused.
It was revealed that the police have conducted surveillance on Espinosa for a week prior to his arrest.
Despite Espinosa's denial, the court found him guilty of selling drugs.
Freedom
Meanwhile, the same court freed a woman who was charged for possession of illegal drugs paraphernalia.
In a 13-page decision, Gelvezon acquitted Cristina Ignacio.
Last Feb. 28, 2004, agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested Ignacio in Barangay Rizal-Pala Pala Zone ll, City Proper.
During a search at Ignacio's house, the PDEA did not find any shabu or illegal drugs but they recovered several paraphernalia believed to be used for administering illegal drugs.
During the raid, there was a blackout, so the team was aided only by flashlights and a gas lamp.
The said paraphernalia allegedly recovered were disposable lighters, strips of aluminum foil and two plastics sachets believed to be with shabu residue.
The accused denied owning these.
However, the court found several inconsistencies on the part of the prosecution witnesses, thus the court have doubt on the charges filed against Ignacio.
Gelvezon stated, "In fact, some of the testimonies were even unreliable."
One of these is the claim of the raiding cops.
Gepanaga said when they arrived at Ignacio's house, their team leader knocked on the door. PO1 Capasao said that when they arrived, the door to Ignacio's house was open, so they entered without knocking first.
PO3 Gepanaga was very sure the first time they entered the house, they already saw the items on the ground. Meanwhile, Capasao said that the first time they entered the house, they did not see the plastics on the top of the table because it was dark and the house was illuminated only by a gas lamp.
The court observed several lapses in the procedure undertaken by the Pdea, which further strengthened the doubt as to the recovery of the subject items./JDB
(May 22, 2006 issue)
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