Two men get 15 years for shabu possession

Regional Trial Court Judge Gabriel Ingles yesterday sentenced two men to 15 years in jail and ordered each of them to pay P300,000 for possession of shabu during their arrest on January 1, 2005.

Ingles found both Peter Lariosa, 21, and Rudglenn Flores, 24, guilty beyond reasonable doubt despite their claim that the policemen forcibly entered the house of their friend in sitio Alaska, barangay Mambaling, and illegally arrested them.

But PO3 Alejandro Batobalonos said he and other fellow police officers were pursuing the suspects after Lariosa, Flores and two companions, including a woman, robbed a passenger jeepney in Mambaling.

When the policemen quickly responded to the place where the snatchers disembarked, they saw the suspects walking towards the interior portion of sitio Alaska and ran away when they noticed the policemen tailing them.

Batobalonos said the four suspects, including the woman, quickly entered a house and locked the door. It prompted the pursuing policemen to forcibly break the door and arrest the suspects.

When the policemen frisked four suspects only Lariosa and Flores yielded a pack of shabu each. The robbery victims identified the suspects as the ones who robbed them and one of their cell phones was recovered from them.

Ingles ruled that the actions of the policemen in breaking the door of the house to arrest the suspects were legal, citing a decision by the Supreme Court. – Rene U. Borromeo/BRP