Man gets life term for owning shabu

A man’s defense that the illegal drugs seized from his house belonged to his retarded son did not work well with the court, which sentenced him instead to life imprisonment.

Regional Trial Court judge Gabriel Ingles, in convicting Rolando Ceniza, ruled that it was impossible for the son to buy shabu based on the testimony of Edgar Pacaña, the one who took care of Ceniza’s son.

Pacaña testified that the retarded son of the accused could not even go to the ground floor of the house so he could not have gone out to buy the illegal items.

Authorities searched Ceniza’s house in barangay Pasil on January 26, 2005 after several weeks of surveillance operations. Seized were three packs of shabu weighing 17.39 grams. 

Ceniza also tried vainly to convince the court of irregularity in the conduct of the search and that he was just falsely accused.

The judge however rejected this saying the search warrant was implemented properly because Ceniza himself, during the trial, admitted that he was with the police officers when they conducted the search.

Ceniza’s testimony during direct examination indicated that he was actually present during the search in the second floor, however, he just wanted to deny his presence, thus, the inconsistencies in his testimony, the court noted.

“There is no reason for this court to find that the search warrant was improperly implemented and that the officers even had the opportunity to plant evidence as they could have easily been discovered,” said Ingles.

The judge added that it would be “improbable for the police officers to have done so (planting evidence) in the presence of the tanods and occupants of the house searched.”

The defense failed to show evidence that could point to any ill-motive of the policemen to falsely accuse Ceniza of the charge, Ingles said.

“This court is morally convinced that while the packs of shabu were not recovered from the physical possession of herein accused, they were found in a room of the house owned by the accused,” Ingles said in convicting Ceniza.

The court however cleared Ceniza of the charge for possession of drug paraphernalia, saying that the aluminum and tin foils and tissue papers recovered could not have been used to ingest the drug. — Joeberth M. Ocao/RAE