Shabu 11 case: Prosecution wants one of accused as witness

The prosecution panel of the shabu manufacturing case is asking the court to reconsider its May 12, 2006 order and for accused Hung Chin Chang, or Simon Lao, to be discharged from the information so he can turn state witness against accused Calvin Tan and the rest of those accused in the manufacture of shabu.

The prosecution panel led by senior state prosecutor Archimedes Manabat, in their three-page motion, cited that accused Lao is more than willing to testify against Tan and the others.

"His testimony is absolutely necessary in order to prove the conspiracy," the prosecution stated in conformity with accused Lao and his lawyer Danilo Yap.

Last May 12, Regional Trial Court Branch 28 judge Marilyn Yap ordered them to submit its formal offer of documentary evidence within 45 days and file its motion for reconsideration of the said order, in effect ordering them to rest their evidence.

The prosecution panel said as a consequence of that order they will not be able to file the motion to discharge Lao as state witness and present him for direct examination.

Tan and 11 others accused are currently facing two criminal cases lodged in Yap's sala in connection of the shabu manufacturing charges.

Tan is identified as the financier of the shabu laboratory raided in barangay Umapad and two other warehouses in barangay Looc and Paknaan in September 2004. The said shabu laboratory was reportedly the biggest shabu laboratory in Southeast Asia.

Seized in the raid were 675 kilos of shabu worth P1.5 billion and enough chemicals to produce 15 tons more of the banned substance. - Mitchelle P. Calipayan