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Monday, January 10, 2005
Probers drag warehouse owners into lawsuit
By Grecar Nilles
With Mia E. Abellana
CEBU CITY -- Owners of the warehouse where shabu was allegedly concocted will face a charge for manufacturing illegal drugs, unless they can convince prosecutors to change their minds.
Ruling that the five incorporators of Caps R Us had "knowledge and consented to" the manufacturing of illegal drugs in their warehouse, the Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended the filing of a case against them, similar to the charge that 11 suspects are facing.
In a resolution dated Dec. 17, 2004, the four-man DOJ panel found probable cause against incorporators Andy S. Ng, Azucena S. Ng, Athena S. Ng and spouses Richard and Adrienne Ong for violation of Section 8, Article 2 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Law, or the manufacturing of shabu.
In a separate resolution released on the same date, the DOJ also recommended the inclusion of Calvin de Jesus Tan, alias Lin Chui Wi/Joey Ng/Joey Lin.
They included Tan in the information against the 11, after he failed to present any evidence when the DOJ conducted the preliminary investigation.
Tan, who is facing separate charges in Hong Kong, faces an extradition trial later this month.
Senior State Prosecutor Archimedes V. Manabat, State Prosecutors Pablo C. Formaran III and Juan Pedro C. Navera and Mandaue City Prosecutor Ferdinand G. Peque compose the DOJ panel, which resolved to file the case against the 11 suspects, Tan and the five Caps R Us incorporators.
The 11 who were charged earlier with manufacturing illegal drugs were: Joseph Yu alias Joseph Tiu/Ramon Uy Lim; Hung Ching Chang alias Andy Ang/Anthony Ang/Simon Lao; Siew Kin Weng; Liew Kam Song; Lin Li Ku; Bao Xiafu; Wu Tiao Yi; Tao Fei; Liu Bo; Allan Yap Garcia; and Joseph Lopez.
All the 11 were allegedly caught manufacturing shabu inside a warehouse owned by Caps R Us in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City in a raid last Sept. 25, 2004.
In the case of the five incorporators, the DOJ panel said the documentary evidence submitted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) showed that the five respondents probably knew about the illegal activities in their warehouse.
"Their denial of personal knowledge or of having personally consented to the manufacture of shabu at the said warehouse deserves scant consideration. In the face of such unshaken evidence of the complainant, respondents...(are) liable as co-principals for manufacturing of dangerous drugs," the ruling read.
But before the case can be filed in court, lawyer Romulo Senining, who is defending the five incorporators, said they will file a motion for reconsideration.
"Honestly, we did not expect this. We will contest the ruling because the panel committed a lot of errors. We have a lot of remedies to prevent the filing of the case," Senining said.
He expects that the DOJ panel will reverse their ruling after the motion for reconsideration is considered.
In a counter-affidavit, Athena and Azucena admitted they are incorporators of Caps R Us, but that all transactions have been undertaken by Andy and Richard, after their company stopped manufacturing caps, shirts and other garments.
For his part, Richard admitted that he was the one who negotiated with Yu for the lease of about 1,800 square meters of their warehouse.
He said the criminal complaint against them should have been dropped outright, because none of the affidavits of PDEA witnesses alleged that they knew about or consented to the illegal activity.
He added that starting Jan. 30, 2004, he turned over the property to Yu and that he no longer had the occasion to enter the premises after that, because he had other businesses to look after.
Richard said the security guards posted in the compound also did not notice any suspicious activity inside the portion of the warehouse Yu occupied.
Had he known about Yu's illegal activities, Richard said he could have immediately terminated the contract of lease with Yu and reported the illegal activities to the police.
Andy adopted verbatim the allegations of his co-respondents, while Adrienne adopted Richard's counter-affidavit.
In its resolution, the panel found the five respondents probably liable for the same offense as that of the other 11 accused.
The panel included the three women incorporators after the latter failed to show any proof, such as a board resolution, that all company transactions were already relegated to Andy and Richard.
The panel added that while the five respondents claimed their business had closed, records from the Securities and Exchange Commission, however, showed otherwise.
They also found out that the warehouse's telephone line is still in the name of the company, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue documents showed that the company paid its taxes shortly before the raid.
"The fact that the trade name of Caps R Us was still inscribed at the Umapad warehouse gate and that the company has contracted security guards at the warehouse leads us to a probable cause conclusion that (they) conveniently covered Yu to conceal the elaborate shabu manufacturing activity at the site," the ruling read. (GN/With MEA)
(January 10, 2005 issue)
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