Man gets life term for selling shabu

The court yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment a 23-year-old man from barangay Capitol Site after he was found guilty of selling a pack of shabu to a poseur buyer in a buy-bust three years ago.

Regional Trial Court Judge Gabriel Ingles also ordered the convicted man, Orlando Ordiz, to pay a P500,000 fine for violating section 11, Article II of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

Ordiz was arrested by policemen Narciso Ursal Jr., Raniel Capangpangan and Rene Cerna when he sold a pack of shabu to Cerna, who acted as the poseur buyer, in a buy-bust on October 3, 2004.

The court gave more credence to the testimonies of the arresting officers who said that the operation against Ordiz was conducted few weeks after they received and confirmed a report about his illegal activities.

Ordiz, in his defense, claimed that the arresting officers only framed him up to the crime when he refused to admit their accusation that he ransacked a store owned by a friend of a policeman.

In his 10-page decision, Ingles said he relied more on the prosecution’s evidence, which satisfactorily proved that Ordiz committed the crime as charged.

In a separate case, Judge Ingles also convicted two men to 17-year imprisonment and a fine of P320,000 each for sniffing shabu inside a shanty in barangay Lorega-San Miguel on October 21, last year.

The two are Eduardo Esperanza and Gavino Genson Jr. who the police caught while in the act of sniffing shabu.

Esperanza and Genson defended themselves by claiming that they were illegally arrested and accusing the arresting officer of extorting money from them.

They said that their failure to give P25,000 to the policeman  had resulted in the filing of the case against them in court.

The court however rejected their defense, saying that “the evidence for the defense was insufficient to cast doubt or proof of guilt established by the prosecution.” – Rene U. Borromeo/RAE