Gonzalez orders transfer of La Union shabu lab case to DOJ

SAN FERNANDO, La Union – Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez ordered on Tuesday the transfer of the case on the shabu laboratory busted in Naguilian town, to Manila for the preliminary investigation.

Chief Superintendent Ramon Gatan, head of Task Force Bimmotobot, named after the remote village in Naguilian where the shabu lab was discovered, told The STAR that Gonzalez’s order was relayed to fiscal Danilo Bumacod of the provincial prosecutor’s office here.

Gatan said the order came out without any consultations with the authorities concerned or with Bumacod, who was reportedly preparing a resolution for the subsequent release of arrest warrants against the suspects.

“The task force was not consulted if there was such a motion to transfer the case. We don’t know the reason. There’s no explanation in the order. The case was already (up) for resolution (by Bumacod),” said Gatan, deputy regional police director for administration.

Gatan said even Bumacod was not aware of the basis for the order, which stated that three DOJ prosecutors would handle the preliminary investigation.

Gatan said Bumacod should be included in the panel of prosecutors because he is already knowledgeable of the case.

“If the case would be transferred, it would again take a longer period of time for the prosecutors to study the case,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gatan confirmed that two of the 55 policemen who were brought to Camp Crame in connection with the investigation into the shabu lab have failed the lie detector test.

“There were five policemen who initially underwent the lie detector test and two of them failed (it),” he said, but declined to identify the two policemen.

Gatan clarified that the lie detector test was conducted to determine the credibility of the policemen and even Dante Palaganas, the arrested caretaker of the shabu lab.