Judge nixes police official's motion for bail

BAUANG, La Union, Philippines – Judge Rose Mary Molina-Alim of Regional Trial Court Branch 33 here denied on Monday for lack of merit the twin motions of Superintendent Dionicio Borromeo, the alleged protector of the shabu laboratory raided by authorities in Bimmotobot, Naguilian, La Union last year.

Borromeo, upon his arrest early this month, filed a motion for reconsideration requesting for detention at Camp Crame instead at the La Union provincial jail in San Fernando City due to alleged security concerns. He also sought for the court to fix an amount of bail. However, Alim, in her June 19 order denied both motions for utter lack of merit.

“Borromeo should continue to be detained at the provincial jail. His motion to fix an amount of bail is likewise unmeritorious as he is charged not merely as a protector but also in conspiracy with his co-accused in willfully, unlawfully and feloniously manufacturing shabu. Therefore, the charge against him is unbailable,” Alim said.

Borromeo, former Dagupan police chief and head of the Regional Mobile Group 1, was tagged by Dante Palaganas, the lab caretaker, as protector of the illegal facility. Palaganas claimed Borromeo was the one who ordered him to look for the lab site in May 2007 and continuously inquired on the volume of finished products being transported by six unidentified Chinese chemists to Manila.

Palaganas also tagged Joselito Artuz alias George Cordero as financier of the drug lab.