Bail grant to 'shabu queen' hit

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday denounced a court decision granting bail to Baguio City’s so-called “shabu queen” just five days after her arrest.

The suspect, Brenda Alidem Singson, who was nabbed in a raid last Aug. 22, was released on P80,000 bail despite being tagged as the fourth most wanted drug personality in Baguio and the most wanted female drug suspect in the Cordillera region.

PDEA director general Dionisio Santiago said he has directed his agency’s Legal and Prosecution Service headed by lawyer Alvaro Lazaro “to exhaust all legal remedies” to overturn the Aug. 27 ruling of Judge Antonio Reyes of Baguio City Regional Trial Court Branch 61.

Seized from Singson were 21 sachets of shabu worth around P40,000, assorted drug paraphernalia, and live ammunition.

Singson, along with fellow drug suspects Jordan Luther Abuan Managdag, 24, and Ely Jose Flores, 37, also tested positive for shabu use.

She was previously arrested in 1990 but was acquitted in 1992 also by Reyes.