Alabang drugs case gets DOJ official in hot water
by MARIETON PACHECO, ABS-CBN News | 01/05/2009 7:34 PM
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Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said Monday that Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor would be administratively liable if found guilty for intervening in the illegal drugs case of the so-called Alabang Boys.
Gonzalez said it was irregular for Blancaflor to have called a Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officer to inquire about the case of the “Alabang Boys” -- Richard Brodett, Jorge Joseph, and Joseph Tecson.
"That's a little bit unusual...it's not basically within the ambit of his assigned responsibilities here," said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez also presented to media the draft release order for the “Alabang Boys” that was submitted to the justice secretary's office reportedly by one of Blancaflor's staff.
The justice secretary said he suspects the draft may have been prepared by a lawyer of one of the suspects and not by a DOJ official since his own name was misspelled as "Gonzales".
An investigation is now being conducted on the source of the draft order where the DOJ’s letterhead was used.
Gonzalez said he admits Blancaflor could be held administratively liable if found intervening in the case.
“It's irregular for him to make me sign it...He can be liable, but I will also consider he was in good faith in doing that," said Gonzalez.
No comment
Blancaflor, in a press conference on Monday, admitted that drug cases are not part of his duties. He is spokesperson of the Anti-Terrorism Council and head of the Task Force on Media Killings.
He refused to comment on the issue of the release order.
"I am now under investigation, reserving my comment. But I always instruct my staff to forward sa office of the secretary ang mga kaso dito," said Blancaflor.
Blancaflor, however, again defended himself on the phone call he made to Major Ferdinand Marcelino, chief of PDEA special enforcement services.
The DOJ undersecretary said he was merely responding to a call for assistance by a certain Philip Brodett, whom he said he knew way back.
But the undersecretary said there is nothing wrong with inquiring about the status of the case or why the suspects haven't been released despite the DOJ's dismissal of the complaint.
“Wala akong ginawang mali. Kung sinong nagsasabing kasabwat ako, lumabas na sila," said Blancaflor.
Blancaflor said he even invited Marcelino to join him in his press conference Monday, but Marcelino was a no-show.
"I invited him, nag-confirm siya sa akin. Until 11 o’clock, tinatawagan ko pa sila kasi mas maganda if they joined me,” said Blancaflor.
It was Marcelino who named Blancaflor as the DOJ undersecretary who called PDEA on the “Alabang Boys” case.
'Defective' PDEA complaint
DOJ prosecutors who handled the case, meanwhile, also faced members of media and hit back at PDEA.
They said they stand by their resolution dismissing the complaint for illegal drug trafficking against the three supects. They said PDEA's evidence was weak.
Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño said that there were defects on the complaint filed by PDEA. He said there was weak evidence and that the constitutional rights of the suspects were not respected. Due to this, Zuño said the evidence would not be accepted by the court.
“There was no valid warrantless arrest by virtue of a buy-bust or an entrapment operation but rather they were arrested at will. It was tainted with incredulous allegations of facts and circumstances surrounding the supposed buy-bust as can be gleaned from the following facts on record: the buy-bust money was only P600 consisting of marked P500 and P100 bills and was interspersed with boodle money to make it appear as P100,000 in bundle. And as to why this amount and how it was used during the operation were facts left unexplained from the evidence,” said Zuño.
The chief state prosecutor said the supposed buy-bust deal was made at around 12 midnight for “70 tablets of ecstasy at P750 each that would amount to P52,500.” He said that there was “no basis to make the bundle to appear as to amount to P100,000 as early as 9 p.m., which was the time before the purported deal.”
“The boodle money was not presented as evidence except the alleged marked money, which was, however, not dusted with ultraviolet powder nitrates. We stress that nowhere in the allegations of PDEA that the marked money was recovered from either respondent Joseph or Brodett,” said Zuño.
The DOJ prosecutors said that PDEA was hiding their weakness in presenting the case and is now destroying the integrity of the fiscals and the justice department.
"We have presented a detailed account of what truly transpired. We are constrained to bring out the lapses made by the PDEA in this case because the agency has totally twisted the facts and made it appear that we were bribed into dismissing the case," said Zuño.
They said PDEA should not blame their lapses on the prosecutors handling the case. They also posed a challenge on the alleged P50-million bribe.
"Tell us the prosecutor who may be involved in the bribe offer. Name the prosecutor, not just speculation cause its unfair. It misleads people and creates a bad impression on the DOJ," said Zuño.
The DOJ officials said they are willing to face any investigation on the “Alabang Boys” drug case controversy.
