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Saturday, December 13, 2003
3 more drug dealers meted death
By Raquel C. Bagnol
DAVAO -- Three more big time drug dealers, one of whom is a woman, were meted the death penalty after they were found guilty of selling a big sachet of shabu weighing 46.4490 grams to a policeman in February.
Regional Trial Court Judge Adoracion Avisado sentenced to death by lethal injection Manuelita Ampatuan, 47; Mastor Maruhom, 30, an employee of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Warren Tumog, 36, an employee of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), all residents of Cotabato City.
The conviction brings to eight the total number of drug suspects, two of whom are women, sentenced to death by lethal injection in Davao City this year.
Avisado, in a 42-page decision, found the three guilty of selling shabu to elements of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in a buy bust operation.
Avisado also ordered the three to pay a fine of P7 million each.
Avisado found the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses are credible and straightforward to prove the guilt of the three accused for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
The prosecution panel presented as their primary witness Edward Dujon, a detainee at the PDEA, who informed PDEA 11 chief, Supt. Wilkins Villanueva that the three accused were involved in the illegal drug trade.
Dujon testified in court he and Ampatuan were introduced to each other sometime in 2002 in a downtown hotel, adding that they had a week-long transaction in illegal drugs in Davao City after they became friends.
Dujon claimed he got acquainted with Tumog and Maruhom, who later took turns in driving Ampatuan from Cotabato to Davao when they have drug transactions.
To validate his claim, Dujon sent Ampatuan a text message and ordered from her one sachet of shabu worth P65,000. Through text messages, they made an arrangement to meet on February 11 at an inn at Juna Subdivision where the sachet of shabu as to be delivered.
Elements of the PDEA arrested the three while in the act of receiving the money as payment for the sachet of shabu.
The three accused separately denied the charges against them when arraigned. Ampatuan denied supplying shabu to Dujon or to anybody else.
She claimed she was framed because the confiscated shabu did not belong to her. Ampatuan added she was just at the inn because Dujon asked for financial assistance from her.
Tumog and Maruhom also claimed they merely went with Ampatuan, denying they were drug pushers. They claimed they had never met Dujon before that.
Avisado did not accept the alibis of the three accused and found the warrantless arrest conducted by PDEA as valid since the three were caught in the act of selling the illegal drugs.
Avisado also sentenced Ampatuan another 24 years imprisonment and a fine of P420,000 for possessing various shabu paraphernalia. Tumog was sentenced another four-year prison term and P20,000 fine.
(December 13, 2003 issue)
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