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Sunday, September 19, 2004
House committee drops drug courier's probe
By Garry Cabotaje and Mia E. Abellana
CEBU CITY -- Self-confessed drug courier Willy Solon was ready to tell all during Saturday's hearing of the House committee on dangerous drugs.
But since he did not have a lawyer, the inquiry was cancelled.
The congressional body, instead, decided to leave the matter up to the court.
Committee members reached this decision during an executive session at the Provincial Capitol where Solon met again the four Maritime policemen whom he accused of stealing two kilos of shabu he was delivering in Cebu.
The lost drugs are worth P3 million or P1.5 million each kilo.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Chief Anselmo Avenido was asked to track down Solon's alleged drug boss in Padre Faura, Manila--one Roy Archua and a certain Monet--the alleged drugs consignee in Cebu.
Solon said he brought with him four kilos of shabu when Maritime policemen arrested him right after he got off from a passenger ship at Pier 5, Cebu City last July 28.
He had come from Manila.
The executive session was called after Ilocos Sur Rep. Salacnib Baterina insisted that Solon could not publicly make his statements on the alleged two missing kilos of shabu in the absence of a legal counsel of his choice.
Since he already swore before the committee, Solon's statements can be used against him, especially that he is already facing drug charges in court, the lawmaker said.
Counter-charges
Solon has also filed counter-charges of kidnapping and robbery and grave misconduct with the Military Ombudsman against the four Maritime policemen--Senior Insp. Roger Mangaoan, PO3 Loreto Banilad, PO2 Henry Deluna and PO1 Napoleon Taneo.
Aside from the two kilos of shabu, the four policemen also allegedly took his wristwatch, cash, cell phone and pieces of jewelry.
Solon also alleged that he was kept inside a downtown inn for eight hours while the four policemen negotiated with his boss.
Solon's lawyer Noel Archival was a no-show in the congressional inquiry.
He was said to be in Tagbilaran City.
Solon presented to the committee a letter, apparently prepared by his lawyer, asking that he be spared from issuing statements during the congressional hearing because of a pending criminal case against him.
But Solon told Rep. Antonio Cuenco that he did not sign it because he really wanted to reveal everything to the House committee.
During the hearing, Solon said Archua, his alleged drug boss, was the one who designated Archival as his lawyer.
"He (Archival) is not my personal choice, your honor," he said in a Cebuano.
Executive session
Solon started replying to Cuenco's queries after the Cebuano lawmaker declared that the congressional hearing was already in an executive session.
But Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, sixth district) pointed out the committee could not go on with the executive session "with all the people around."
Thus, the committee decided to hold the session at the office of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia for an hour.
The House body wants to go after Solon's bosses in Manila.
However, an obstacle to tracking down the big-time drug dealers is the anti-wire tapping law.
PDEA Chief Avenido told the House committee on dangerous drugs that their foreign counterparts are willing to provide the technology as long as they had the legal basis to do so.
The existing law does not allow evidence obtained from wire tapping unless the matter involves national security.
Avenido said they are hoping for an amendment in the law to include drug-related cases in the exception.
Cuenco said Avenido's suggestion was a delicate one, but said they will consider it.
For his part, Baterina pointed out that allowing authorities to wire tap might violate citizen's rights.
He said that if Avenido can draft a bill that will adhere to the provision in the Constitution that requires every citizen's right to be respected, the committee might consider amending the law.
"Drug abuse may not be considered a crime against the security of the state," Baterina told Avenido.
The PDEA chief explained that in other countries, they could easily track down suspected drug lords by way of wire-tapping.
They can also use the evidence gathered from the wire tapping in court.
Through wire-tapping, suspected drug lords are caught talking to their drug couriers and can easily be implicated.
Hurdles
Other hurdles in solving the country's drug problem, Avenido said, are the lack of cooperation of some prosecutors and judges, the laxity of the superiors to supervise their ranks and the lack of interest on the part of the policemen.
Avenido said many cases were easily dismissed because law enforcers failed to attend hearings.
After looking into the reasons for the dismissal of cases, Avenido said many subpoenas were sent to the wrong addresses, which was why many could not attend the hearings.
(September 19, 2004 issue)
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