Co-accused tags Tan as the brains

The hearing of the case against several men involved in what is believed to be the biggest-ever shabu laboratory that has been busted took an interesting turn at the Regional Trial Court in Mandaue City yesterday.

This as Hung Ching Chang, one of the accused, was summoned to the witness stand and spoke about how he was dragged into the case by Calvin de Jesus Tan, who is allegedly the financier of the operation.

The defense counsels opposed the move to call Chang to the witness stand, but presiding Judge Marilyn Yap allowed the prosecution to conduct the questioning and assured that all manifestations of the defense are properly recorded.

Chang, 42, a British national, who spoke through an interpreter, alleged that Tan assured him that he should not get worried if he is caught as the latter is powerful in the Philippines.

"He told me not to worry," Chang quoted Tan during their conversation in Macau sometime in Decemer 2002, "I'm powerful in the Philippines and I can fix things."

Tan, together with Chang and other 12 accused are facing trial for two counts for alleged violations of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 before the Regional Trial Court Branch 28 in Mandaue City.

Tan was extradited from Hong Kong and his petition for bail was denied as he is being indicted as the alleged financier of the two alleged clandestine shabu laboratories in barangay Pakna-an and Umapad in Mandaue City that were busted on September 24, 2004.

But before Chang was allowed to answer the questions of the prosecution, Tan's lead counsel Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu opposed Chang's presentation as witness as it would be tantamount as proving the elements of the crime against her client.

Defense counsel Hector Fernandez said that the statement of Chang is a new matter that the prosecution is trying to squeeze.

Lawyer Charleson Jeffrey Yu, who has been designated as the official Chinese interpreter of the Supreme Court, was the one who translated Chang's statements that were made in Fookien.

Chang, a merchandize agent, admitted that he has been in the Philippines more than 10 times since 1995 and it was sometime in 2002 that he meet a certain Lee Hiong, who introduced him to Ah Kwe, whom he later knew to be Tan or Boss Joey.

Chang said that Tan asked him if he knows anything about the export business, to which he admitted to have no knowledge of such kind of business.

Chang said, Tan assured him that he would be taught the things that he did not know about the business. Tan reportedly wanted him in since he wanted a Chinese to be at the helm of the business since he did not trust Filipinos.

A panel of state prosecutors led by Senior State prosecutor Achimedes Manabat presented Chang, who said that he first met tan in 2002 at the Oakwood Hotel i8n Makati City. During that meeting, Chang said that he saw Tan sniffing something, which he was told, was "ice"

Chang said that "ice" according to Tan, is called shabu in the Philippines and this is the kind of business that Tan wants him to put up in Central Visayas.

"He told me this is dangerous," Chang said adding Tan admitted that this is his business and he will teach him how and he will earn lots of money. Sometime between January to June of 2003, Tan again called Chang and they meet again in Macau specifically at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and it was Tan, who paid for all the expenses.

During this meeting, Chang said, they discussed how to go about the "ice factory," the machinery, the ingredients and labor.

In September 2003, Chang said he was introduced to co-accused Joseph Yu, whom he said as the one who facilitated the factory in Cebu including the renting of the warehouse and acquisition of laboratory materials.

In November 2003, Chang said that he was told by Tan through a phone call to proceed to Cebu and asked him to look for another person who can buy acetone and hydrogen gas.

Tan allegedly told him to call a certain Boyet or Benjie, who in turn introduced him to a certain Michael, whom he later knew as Morteza Tamadoni.

In January 2004, Chang said Tamadoni had told him that he already found a source of acetone and hydrogen gas.

Tamadoni is among the prosecution witnesses, who earlier testified that he met accused Tan in Macau on April 14 and 15, 2004.

Tamadoni is an Iranian national who testified that he meet Chang during the last week of November 2003 through his friend named Benjie at Glorietta in Makati City. Tamadoni volunteered to be the business partner of Chang right away.

But sensing that there is something illegal about this transaction, he called his friend P/Insp. Madzgani Mukaram of PDEA.

Mukaram instructed Tamadoni to go on with the planned business and supply acetone and instructed the latter to report to him and to document everything and to closely watch the flow of business.

Mukaram was also the overall supervisor of the surveillance team, which eventually led to the raid of the said laboratories in 2004.

Mukaram also earlier testified in court that Tamadoni purchased 95 pails of acetone from a drugstore in Cebu City and several chemicals from other places.

Acetone is among the ingredients used in shabu manufacturing.

The shabu laboratory that was busted in barangay Umapad was said to be the 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.



The prosecution will continue to grill Chang today.