Three men cleared of drug charges

Three men have been cleared of drug charges and ordered released from jail after the prosecution failed to prove them guilty.

Regional Trial Court executive judge Fortunato de Gracia Jr. said the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of Rey Gucor, Noel Dilla and Ruel Cañoneo.

The police claimed that Gucor was arrested after he sold a small pack of shabu to a poseur-buyer in barangay Pasil on December 6, 2002 and when he was frisked 23 more packs of shabu were recovered from him.

It was PO3 Vicente Gelbolingo of the Drug Enforcement Unit who acted as the poseur-buyer, but after he testified before the court in direct examination he failed to come back for cross-examination.

The court did not give credence to the testimonies of PO3 Signey Gomez because, although he was part of those who arrested Gucor, he admitted that he did not actually see when the drugs changed hands.

In Noel Dilla’s case, he was arrested by Ermita barangay tanod Venancio Catalan after he reportedly tried to stab the tanod dead.

Catalan said he only suffered minor injuries in his arm but still managed to subdue the attacker, he also said when he searched the suspect a pack of shabu was recovered from him.

But de Gracia did not believe the testimony of the tanod as he gave more credence to the claims of the accused.

Dilla said after he bought bread from a bakery in Carbon and passed by the tanod outpost on his way home.

There he saw Catalan who appeared to be drunk and suddenly punched him without any reason.

“This court is convinced that the version of the complaining tanod is pure fiction and an unvarnished prevarication,” De Gracia said.

Ruel Cañoneo was arrested for allegedly selling a pack of shabu to a police poseur-buyer, then also yielded three-more heat-sealed packs of shabu when he was frisked.

The alleged buy-bust operation was reportedly conducted in barangay Tulay, Minglanilla town, but the defense managed to prove that there was no actual buy-bust operation.

Cañoneo claimed that while he was sitting inside a trisikad, the three policemen arrived onboard their vehicle and quickly held him, then searched him.

The accused denied that there was something illegal was recovered from his possession.

The court also observed that while the police claimed that they had prior coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the records showed that the pre-operation report was received by the PDEA at 11 p.m. while the alleged buy-bust operation was at 3:30 p.m.    — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP