Monday, July 21, 2008
Judges jail 2 men for shabu possession
TWO men will be spending more than a decade in jail for possession of shabu.
In both cases, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) judges favored the testimonies of policemen, rather than the accused themselves.
Primo Saducas was caught in possession of 42 decks of shabu that weighed 3.54 grams on Nov. 19, 2003 in his home in Sitio Lomboy, Barangay Liboron, Carcar City.
For two weeks, the Carcar Police Station kept him under surveillance and planned a buy-bust operation.
After the entrapment, the police arrested Saducas and enforced a search warrant against him. On Saducas were seven decks of shabu, while 35 others were found during the search in his home.
Police also found over P10,500 cash.
Saducas said that the evidence against him was planted. He also testified that over P70,000 cash was taken from his home but the police only declared a seventh of the actual amount.
RTC Judge Silvestre Maamo Jr., though, was inclined to believe the testimonies of policemen who testified for the prosecution, over the bare denial of Saducas.
Denial also did not work for Richard Rapols, who was arrested during a random checkpoint along Imus road, Cebu City on Feb. 11, 2007.
He was riding a public utility jeepney that got stopped for inspection.
PO1 Rulymar Laquinon testified that while the male passengers stepped down for the inspection, one looked suspicious, referring to Rapols.
Rapols allegedly threw a pouch that hit Laquinon, then ran away.
Rapols was arrested after a chase, and PO1 Roque Dequit found a knife tucked into the suspect’s waistband.
The police found on him two small packs of shabu weighing 0.04 gram. The pouch also contained a syringe, a disposable lighter and an empty vial of Nubain, a painkiller.
RTC Judge Gabriel Ingles convicted Rapols and sentenced him to 12 to 15 years in jail and ordered him to pay a fine of P300,000.
Saducas was acquitted of illegal drug peddling but sentenced to 14 to 15 years in jail for the possession of 42 packets of shabu. He was also fined P400,000. (JGA)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (July 21, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here. |
