Shabu 11 case Court to hear motion to have Lao as witness

The motion to discharge accused Hung Chin Chang, otherwise known as Simon Lao, as state witness filed by the prosecution panel in the shabu laboratory case in Mandaue City will be heard next week despite opposition by defense counsels.

Regional Trial Court judge Marilyn Yap said that it is provided for by the Rules of Court that such motions must be heard for her to avoid administrative complaints later for failure to hear the said motion.

Defense counsels Hector Fernandez and his son Vicente II, in their joint opposition/comment on the said motion, stated that based on the evidence presented during the proceeding, Lao appears to be the most guilty and that the present application of the state is a mere exercise in futility and should not be given encouragement by the court.

They added that said motion came too late for being filed almost 45 days after the order dated last May 12 was decreed in open court.

William de los Santos, legal counsel of accused Calvin Tan also manifested his strong opposition saying Lao is the real mastermind behind the shabu laboratory in Mandaue and not his client.

"Why should we hear his testimony when it is already in his affidavit. He is the most guilty and he is certainly disqualified to be a state witness," De los Santos said.

Tan is identified as the financier of the shabu laboratory located in barangay Umapad, Mandaue City, and two other warehouses in barangay Looc and Paknaan raided by police last September 2004.

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.

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

Meanwhile, the court set the contempt hearing filed by Fernandez and his son against mediaman Lloyd Suarez of DYSS and Cebu Daily News on July 7. - Mitchelle P. Calipayan