Resado insists no buy-bust operation on Alabang Boys

MANILA, Philippines - Embattled State Prosecutor John Resado insisted yesterday that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) did not conduct a buy-bust operation on the group of suspected drug dealers known as the Alabang Boys.

He made the response to questions raised by Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, who asked him to comment on the testimony of Arvin Ballares, a security officer of the affluent Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa, where two of the three suspects were arrested.

Ballares told the House committee on dangerous drugs that the PDEA agents coordinated with village security officers in entrapping suspect Jorge Jordana Joseph through a buy-bust operation.

“They came in two vehicles. They presented to us their mission order indicating their target and their IDs (identification cards). We cleared their operation with the village security coordinator,” he said.

He said the mission order indicated that the agents’ quarry was Joseph.

The agents arrested Joseph and his alleged supplier, Richard Brodett, a resident of Ayala Alabang. The third suspect, Joseph Tecson, was arrested later in Cubao, Quezon City.

Faced with Ballares’ testimony, Resado stuck to his story. He maintained that there was no entrapment “because the alleged drug buy-bust operation was carried out only by one man – the poseur-buyer.”

He said it was incredible that one agent could risk his life and single-handedly carry out such an operation.

Though he admitted that there were other agents in the village, Resado said the agents Ballares referred to were held by security guards at the entry gate.

“There was no buy-bust. That was my appreciation of the case,” he insisted.

The dangerous drugs committee chaired by Ilocos Norte Rep. Roque Ablan Jr. has recommended the filing of various charges against Resado, including one for perjury or lying, another for engaging in lending without the proper licenses and a third for money-laundering.

The Court of Appeals has frozen the prosecutor’s bank account into which he deposited P800,000 on Dec. 2, 2008, the day he signed a resolution dismissing the charges against the Alabang Boys and ordering the PDEA to free the suspects.

His superiors – Senior State Prosecutor Philip Kimpo and Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño – approved his resolution.

On orders of President Arroyo, Resado, Kimpo, Zuño, and State Prosecutor Misael Ladaga, who reviewed Resado’s report for Zuño, are now on forced leave.

Yesterday’s hearing was the ninth the Ablan committee has held on the Alabang Boys’ case. Some committee members have observed that the inquiry is now going in circles and testimonies have become repetitive.

In yesterday’s hearing, there were even questions about the internal security procedures of Ayala Alabang, prompting some members to wonder if these are related to their legislative work.

The committee has not decided whether to continue or terminate its investigation.– Jess Diaz