The Regional Trial Court has sentenced a male resident of barangay Kamagayan to 15-year imprisonment and ordered him to pay a fine of P300,000 for keeping 11 grams of shabu in his house.
RTC-branch 58 Judge Gabriel Ingles ruled that the prosecution succeeded in proving guilty beyond reasonable doubt the accused Ramon Bantillan, who himself waived his right to answer the charges.
Bantillan did not controvert the testimonies of prosecution witnesses, particularly the raiding policemen, and he chose not to present any evidence to his favor then relied instead on the cross examination of those who testified against him.
On May 20, 2006, Bantillan was arrested by a joint team of the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch, Vice Control Section, and Speacial Weapon and Tactics Team, which was armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Ingles himself.
The raiders declared that they found six plastic packs of shabu from Bantillan’s house, as witnessed by two tanods of Kamagayan. — Rene U. Borromeo/RAE