OZAMIZ City Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog was sentenced to life in prison as she was found guilty of illegal drug possession.
She was also ordered to pay a fine of P500,000.
Parojinog was arrested on July 30, 2017 during a raid on their residence in Barangay San Roque, Ozamiz City. The raid resulted in the killing of members of her family, including her father, former mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., mother Susan, sister Mona, brother Octavio and 12 other people.
The Parojinogs of Ozamiz had been linked to the illegal drug trade and other criminal activities by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In her ruling, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 228 Judge Mitushealla Manzanero-Casiño said the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that Parojinog is guilty of possession of 677.6796 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu.
Parojinog, in her defense, denied owning the illegal drugs, arguing that it was planted by the authorities.
But the court said there was no evidence to support her claim.
"The court emphasizes that the accused, her son Edray and his friends all testified that they saw the policemen entering the main glass door of the house and going upstairs. However, there was nothing in their testimony and not one of them actually testified that they saw the policemen who entered the main glass door as carrying something suspicious," stated the ruling.
"The illegal drugs in the said case were even found inside the bedroom of persons other than the accused but inside the rest house owned by the accused," it added.
The court directed the warden of the Taguig City Jail female dormitory to turn Parojinog over to the Correctional Institute for Women upon receipt of the decision.
It also ordered the turnover of the “representative samples” of illegal drugs seized from the Parojinog residence to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for proper disposition and destruction. (LMY)
