Witness offered P270 M to testify in drug den case

A government witness was offered 30 percent of the P900 million frozen assets of alleged Pasig City shabu flea market operator Amin Imam Boratong as a reward for testifying against him, a witness said yesterday.

Appearing as the 13th defense witness, Hadji Ibrahim Daluma, 60, claimed Boratong and government witness Samer Palao – whose real name is Mangandama Boratong – are his sons from his marriage to the late Laindagan Boratong.

During cross-examination, however, Daluma admitted that the birth of his sons was not recorded in the civil registry of the Lumba-Bayabao town in Lanao del Sur.

Lawyer Raymond Fortun presented Daluma before the chamber of Judge Abraham Borreta of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) to impeach the testimony of Palao against his client.

Boratong and his second wife, Sheryl Molera, are facing maintenance of a drug den charges before Borreta’s chamber.

According to Daluma, he, along with four prominent personalities in Mindanao, visited Palao several times in his detention cell in Camp Crame early this year to convince him to retract his testimony against his brother.

But Palao allegedly refused, saying he should be released first from detention and cleared of the murder of a certain Cadar Sultan before retracting his statements.

Palao also boasted that his police handlers promised him as a reward at least 30 percent of the frozen assets of Boratong.

The government’s Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLAC) has traced at least P900 million of Boratong’s assets and properties. – Non Alquitran