No Manila hearing for shabu case

CEBU — Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales has ordered that the preliminary investigation of the criminal cases against the 11 suspects in the Mandaue City shabu raids be conducted in Cebu rather than in Manila.

Gonzales turned down the suggestion of chief state prosecutor Jovencito Zuño that the preliminary investigation be conducted in Manila.

Gonzales made the decision due to the strong opposition of Rep. Antonio Cuenco and officials of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

He created a four-man special team of prosecutors, headed by assistant chief state prosecutor Archie Manabat, to conduct the preliminary investigation.

Cuenco, who is now in Hong Kong along with some officials of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, lauded Gonzales’ decision.

Cuenco is helping the PDEA gather evidence against the 11 suspects who were arrested during the recent raids on the Mandaue shabu laboratories, and Calvin Tan, their alleged financier who was collared in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, PDEA director general Anselmo Avenido welcomed the order of Regional Trial Court Judge Marilyn Yap directing the Department of Foreign Affairs to cancel Tan’s passport.

Once they get a copy of the court order, Avenido said he will immediately forward it to the Hong Kong consulate so Tan cannot be released even if he is cleared of charges there.

Tan, 29, yielded a few packs of shabu and cocaine when Hong Kong authorities arrested him while he was on his way to Macau last Sept. 29, five days after the Mandaue raids.

"It is our assessment that all legal administrative remedies are being made by our government to prevent the release on bail of Tan. We are confident that he will be deported back to the Philippines as soon as possible," said Cuenco in a faxed statement to The Freeman.

Cuenco said he was able to talk to Tan inside his detention cell, but the latter did not reveal his contacts in Cebu or in other parts of the country.

But Cuenco said PDEA investigators and their counterparts in Hong Kong and the US Drug Enforcement Administration are sharing information on Tan’s illegal drug activities and contacts.

The court also denied the motion filed by lawyer Daryll Amante to dismiss the search warrant issued by Quezon City RTC Judge Natividad Geron Dizon, which was used during the Mandaue raids.

As this developed, Gonzales denied accusing Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano of owning one of the warehouses-turned-shabu labs that were raided, as he was quoted in the Cebu Daily News.

In a radio interview, Gonzales said he did not specifically name Ouano as the owner of one of the raided warehouses. What he said was that there was information that an Ouano owns a warehouse near a wharf.

The mayor said he has instructed his lawyers to file a P100-million libel suit against Gonzales and the Cebu Daily News. — Freeman News Service