2 'Alabang boys' acquitted

MANILA, Philippines - The Muntinlupa City regional trial court (RTC) acquitted yesterday on a technicality two members of the so-called “Alabang boys” who were charged with illegal possession and sale of prohibited drugs in 2008.

In a 46-page decision, Judge Juanita Guerrero of RTC Branch 204 noted the “lapses” of the arresting agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the custody of the illegal drugs seized from accused Jorge Joseph and Richard Brodett.

Guerrero said PDEA’s buy-bust operation against Joseph and Brodett on Sept. 19, 2008 was “valid,” but “the link in the custody of the drug evidence,” as required by Section 21 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, “has been broken.”

“The failure of the prosecution therefore to establish all the links in the chain of custody is fatal to the case,” Guerrero said.

Brodett is a resident of the posh Ayala Alabang Village, while Joseph is the son of radio personality Johnny Midnight.

They were arrested for allegedly selling 60 pieces of Ecstacy tablets worth P750 each to an undercover PDEA agent.

Several grams of cocaine and dried marijuana leaves were also recovered inside the car of Brodett.

With the acquittal of Joseph and Brodett, the only remaining member of the “Alabang boys” still with a pending case is Richard Tecson.

Tecson’s drug trafficking case is pending at the Quezon City RTC Branch 227, according to lawyer Alvaro Lazaro, head of PDEA’s Legal Service.

Lazaro said the prosecution is still presenting its evidence against Tecson before the court.

Tecson was arrested in Quezon City the same day Brodett and Joseph were nabbed in Ayala Alabang.

The PDEA said it was Joseph who “squealed” and led government agents to arrest Tecson.

In October 2010, Judge Guerrero denied their petition for bail, saying, “Without hearing the evidence of the defense (lawyers), the evidence presented by the prosecution was strong or sufficient to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.”

Guerrero, however, said the testimony of PDEA forensic chemist Rona Mae Aguillon during the defense’s presentation placed the court “in a quandary” as to when she examined the drugs seized from the suspects and the time the items were presented by then PDEA Director Dionisio Santiago to the media.

Based on Aguillon’s testimony, she started examining the drugs at 12:15 p.m. of Sept. 20, 2008. She said it took her 16 hours to examine it.

A picture published in the Metro page of The STAR on Sept. 21, 2008, on the other hand, showed Santiago presenting the items before the media.

“It must be pointed out that at 2 or 3 p.m. of Sept. 20, 2008, these 60 tablets of Ecstacy as well as the other drug evidence have already been transferred to the custody of Aguillon, since she finished the laboratory examination of these tablets and the other drug items at 4 a.m. of Sept. 21, 2008,” the decision read.

“The court is now in a quandary as to the time when Director Santiago held the Ecstacy tablets and other drug items as shown in the Philippine Star photograph taken by (Michael) Amoroso. Was it before the inventory taking or after Aguillon had taken custody of said items?” it added.

Guerrero said the lapses could have been explained had Santiago or team head Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino been called to “justify” the lapses before the court.

“In this case, the prosecution did not even acknowledge and discuss the reason for the missing links in the chain,” the court said.

Before the hearing started, Brodett’s lawyer Felisberto Verano expressed confidence that the “Alabang boys” would be acquitted.

Emotions ran high after the decision was read, as relatives of the accused cried.

Brodett’s father Butch, who was accompanied by his wife and daughter, said he was overwhelmed but his family does not know what to do yet.

Joseph said he is very happy. According to his lawyer, Andresito Fornier, Joseph plans to study law once he is released.

Fornier said once his client is released he would file obstruction of justice against the PDEA.

PDEA representative Ronny Cudia, for his part, told the media that he would wait for a copy of the decision before issuing any statement.

Acquittal demoralizes PDEA agents

Current PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez said the acquittal of the two “Alabang boys” has affected the morale of his men.

Gutierrez said the agency was “saddened” with result of the long legal battle but said it “acknowledges the finality of the decision of the (Muntinlupa) court.”

He said the agency is still studying its legal options on whether it would file an appeal.

Gutierrez ordered the PDEA legal service to review the decision of Judge Guerrero.

“Hopefully we can learn a lesson from this and perhaps improve the system,” he said, noting the “strict” requirements on the “chain of custody of evidence” under the Dangerous Drugs Law that he said they find hard to comply with.

Retired PDEA director Santiago said they even believed they had a strong case against Joseph and Brodett even as he admitted that they had an idea of what the verdict was going to be.

“Matagal na kami may (We’ve long had a) gut feel,” Santiago said, noting that he even had a conversation with Marcelino about it last Thursday, before the promulgation of judgment yesterday morning.

Marcelino, who was then assigned at the PDEA when Joseph, Brodett and Tecson were arrested, was the one who led the operation. Marcelino had since returned to the military.

“Huwag kayo malungkot (Don’t be sad),” was what Santiago told Marcelino.

Santiago returned to the private sector after his stint at PDEA. “We were confident about this case,” he said.

He even revealed that one of the problems he saw was the fact that Marcelino and another agent were no longer presented as prosecution witnesses.

“They were the ones who took the lead in that operation,” Santiago said.

But he said the prosecution decided to no longer present the two as witnesses. “We don’t know why,” Santiago said.

According to Santiago, the outcome of the case may be frustrating to them, but he said this should not affect the fight against illegal drugs.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Department of Justice (DOJ) will examine how the two “Alabang boys” were acquitted.

“It’s a surprising development. I’ll look into that,” said De Lima who celebrated her birthday yesterday.

De Lima said she would ask for a report from the prosecutor who

handled the controversial drug trafficking case.

“I will check what went wrong in that case. I was really shocked by this,” she said.

But when De Lima learned through initial media reports the grounds of the court for acquitting the suspects, she said the “failure to follow the chain of custody of the evidence” is a common mistake of law enforcers that usually leads to dismissal of drug cases in courts.

“There are really many drug cases dismissed on this ground. There are procedural requirements that are really very difficult to satisfy. It happened in several cases,” she said.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said the decision of the court should be respected.

“In our system we must respect the court’s decision,” Sotto said.

Sotto, former head of the Dangerous Drugs Board, did not have a direct hand in handling the case of the “Alabang boys” which was under the PDEA.

Sotto said that the case “must open the eyes of the executive and legislative departments to build the legal and police infrastructure for a more air-tight drugs case buildup” in the future.

He said he filed a bill seeking to reduce the age, from 18 to 11, of criminal offenders on illegal drugs.

The bill is now in the final stages of discussion at the Senate committee on illegal drugs.

“We in the Senate are looking at the reduction of the age of criminal liability (particularly of illegal drug offenders). Under present laws, one has to be 18 years old and above to be fully responsible,” Sotto said while gracing the Anti-Illegal Drug Summit at the Hotel Ariana in Bauang, La Union last Friday.

Sotto revealed that drug syndicates operating in the country are now using minors as couriers.

“I am suggesting that criminal liability attach at an earlier age (of 11) as we shall debate the suggestion in the Senate,” he said.

Sotto also said that he has proposed mandatory drug testing for all drivers involved in vehicular accidents to provide for an aggravating circumstance in case they tested positive.

Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) president Dante Jimenez expressed disappointment over the acquittal of the “Alabang boys.”

Jimenez admitted that he has not yet seen a copy of the decision of Judge Guerrero, but said their group would look into the circumstances that led to the acquittal of the two accused drug suspects. - With Reinir Padua, Edu Punay, Marvin Sy, Evelyn Macairan, Jun Elias