Man sentenced to life term for illegal drugs

A court yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment a man who yielded at least 52 grams of shabu during a police operation in sitio Dita, barangay Pulangbato two years ago.

Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Simeon Dumdum Jr. rejected the defense of 30-year-old Harven Tumulak that he was a victim of frame-up by those who raided his parents' house on June 12, 2004 and that the confiscated illegal drug was just planted by police.

Police seized six plastic packs of shabu from the house they searched by virtue of a search warrant issued by Dumdum. Supt. Paul Labra II, who headed the raiding team, said Tumulak had been under surveillance before the operation.

During trial, Tumulak had maintained that the house was not his and that he could not be convicted because police claimed that the shabu was seized from the ground floor while he stayed on the second floor.

But Dumdum still rejected his defense because he failed to support it with proof to prove that his parents owned the house.

Dumdum ruled that denials are weak forms of defense - especially when they are not supported by evidence - that can be easily concocted and fabricated.

The court noted that the prosecution witnesses remained unswerving in their testimonies on the circumstances of the recovery of the illegal drug.

Meanwhile, another court acquitted yesterday a former employee of an uptown department store who was arrested by police for vagrancy but who reportedly yielded three small packs of shabu.

Dominic Olano was arrested by the elements of the Cebu City Police Office Intelligence Division while reportedly roaming along General Maxilom Avenue about 2:15 a.m. on June 11, 2005.

Judge Gabriel Ingles ruled that it was natural for Olano to roam the place because he stayed in the area, saying that the accused was able to prove his financial capability, making it difficult for the court to believe that he was a vagrant.

The court decided that since Olano's arrest was illegal, the shabu that was reportedly seized from him could not be used to pin him down. - Rene U. Borromeo