Pseudoephedrine smuggling: Prosecution asks judge to inhibit self from case

State prosecutors have asked for the voluntary inhibition of the judge handling the criminal case against former Cebu vice governor John Gregory Osmeña regarding his alleged coddling of the people behind the illegal importation of the P6 billion worth of pseudoephedrine four years ago on the basis of alleged bias.

Chief state prosecutor Jovencito Zuño and the members of the prosecution panel led by Archimedes Manabat and members Juan Pedro Navera, Erwin Maraya, llena Ipong and Jose Nathaniel Andal moved for the inhibition of RTC judge Meinrado Paredes not only in the case against Osmeña but of the case against Mike Cummings and Dirk Hultz as well.

State prosecutors also asked for the suspension of the proceedings of the pending motions filed by Osmeña until the resolution of their motion for Paredes’ voluntary inhibition.

Osmeña earlier asked to quash the information of the case against him and the deferment of the issuance of the warrant of arrest.

The state prosecutors said that Paredes showed partiality in favor of the accused as shown in his line of questioning to the prosecutors during the hearing of Osmeña’s motion to quash.

The prosecution believes that Paredes has already prejudged the case in favor of the accused when it made an open court comment that he was not satisfied by the evidence presented by the prosecution.

According to the prosecution, they attempted to correct the court’s impression by stating the circumstances pointing to Osmeña’s knowledge of the illegal importation and his coddling of the people behind it, but these were allegedly shrugged off by Paredes who said they were engaging in speculation.

The prosecutors said Paredes himself was allegedly speculating when he said the accused and politicians are just “very accommodating” thus “they commit mistakes”.

While the prosecutors acknowledged the court’s authority to determine probable cause, they claimed it is only limited to the issuance of the warrant of arrest.

During the last hearing Paredes asked the prosecutors if they have evidence to show that Osmeña and the consignees, Cummings and Hultz, knew each other before the illegal importation of the 1,500 kilos drug precursor.

The prosecutors admitted that they did not but they do have evidence to show that Osmeña interceded for the release of the shipment.

However, the court said that the alleged meeting between Osmeña and the people behind the importation is not sufficient to prove the crime unless its element under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Law is met.

Paredes earlier said that it should be proven that the accused “willfully and knowingly” consented to the illegal importation.

Osmeña was earlier tagged as protector of Cummings and Hultz, who were the listed consignees of the P6 billion worth of smuggled pseudoephedrine intercepted in Cebu last 2004.

Osmeña reportedly called up then PDEA Central Visayas director Gaudencio Pagaling asking him to release the shipment.

Senior Supt. Primo Golingay, then director of compliance service of PDEA, also executed an affidavit saying Osmeña met him and asked him for assistance, promising a generous sum in exchange for releasing the shipment, which came from China and was bound for Australia via Cebu courtesy of Cummings and Hultz.

PDEA agents said that Osmeña have also met with George Michael Kessel and a certain “Soria” who were allegedly members of an Australian drug syndicate overseeing the shipment.  –Fred P. Languido/BRP