Pusher gets life for P200 shabu

MANILA, Philippines - A man arrested in 2005 for selling .06 grams of shabu for P200 was sentenced yesterday to spend the rest of his life in prison and pay a P500,000 fine.

Judge Severino de Castro of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 82 found Alexander Bernardo guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

De Castro said the prosecution was able to provide evidence that Bernardo was arrested during a drug bust at a fastfood restaurant along Quezon Avenue on Oct. 5, 2005.

Police Officer 3 Roberto Bersal identified Bernardo as the man who sold him the shabu.

During the trial, Bernardo denied that he was arrested during the operation in Quezon City.

He claimed that a policeman approached him in Pasay City. He said he was brought and detained at Camp Karingal after the said policeman failed to find the person he was looking for.

But in his seven-page decision, De Castro said the antecedents of the operation were described in detail, adding that the chain of custody of the evidence had been sufficiently established.

De Castro noted that Bernardo failed to deny the supposed sale of the illegal drugs, which is the basis of the charges filed against him.

The defense “wants the court to believe that he was arrested in Pasay City and not in Quezon City, where this court exercises jurisdiction,” read the decision.