8 aliens, 3 others get life for Cebu shabu lab

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Eleven people, including eight foreigners, involved in the operation of a mega shabu laboratory busted by authorities in Mandaue City almost eight years ago, were meted life imprisonment on Thursday.

In a 277-page decision, Judge Marilyn Lagura Yap of Regional Trial Court Branch 28 convicted Filipino-Chinese Calvin de Jesus Tan, Allan Yap Garcia, Joseph Lopez, Chinese Joseph Yu, Liu Bo, Tao Fei and Bao Xiafu, Taiwanese Lin Li Ku and Wu Tiao Yi, and Malaysians Siew Ken Wing and Liew Kam Siong for operating the illegal drug laboratory in Barangay Umapad, Mandaue City.

The 12th accused, British Hung Chin Chang, also known as Simon Lao, was acquitted after he turned himself into a state witness and testified against Tan and the 10 other accused.

Tan was the financier of the shabu laboratory, which was raided by the authorities on Sept. 24, 2004, yielding about 675 kilos of shabu worth P1.3 billion.

Aside from life imprisonment, the court also ordered those convicted to each pay a fine of P10 million. The three vehicles used in transporting chemicals used in the manufacture of shabu were also ordered seized.

The foreign convicts will be deported after they finish serving their sentence in the country, the court said.

Lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, Tan’s legal counsel, said they would file a motion for reconsideration for the return of Tan’s passport, bank accounts and other documents.

Determined to bring the case to the Court of Appeals, Dalawampu alleged the court never gave them the chance to present more evidence to prove Tan’s innocence.

Dalawampu said Tan’s passport would show the time and places where he had traveled and that the bank accounts would show that he had no accounts in the Philippines.

The passport and documents were confiscated during Tan’s arrest in Hong Kong.

Dalawampu said the court entirely relied on the testimony of Hung, who she said was the most “guilty.”

She said it was Hung who hired the foreign nationals to come to the Philippines and work at the shabu lab.

Dalawampu said she failed to contest the statements of Hung and two other witnesses, as she was not yet handling Tan’s case when the witnesses testified in court.

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the conviction “is certainly a breakthrough in our campaign against illegal drugs and sends a very positive signal to everyone concerned.” – With Gregg Rubio/Freeman News Service