Notorious Taboan robber meted 15 years for illegal drugs

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Trial Court has sentenced a notorious robber to fifteen years behind bars after being found guilty of illegal possession of drugs.

Nilo Orbiso Santir, who lives at the Taboan area, was arrested by police on February 18 last year after he was seen tucking a bladed weapon.

PO1 Arnel Gabucan testified that on February 18, 2009 he was conducting a roving patrol at the Taboan Public Market when he saw the accused with a knife tucked in his waistline.

When the accused noticed his presence, he walked away so the witness called for backup. The arresting officers, Gabucan said, saw Santir trying to escape from them but they caught up with him when he bumped onto a crate of dried fish.

Gabucan asked him why he was carrying a knife but Santir did not answer; such prompted them to place him under arrest. When they conducted a body search they recovered a plastic pack believed to be shabu concealed in his underwear.

Santir, on the other hand, said that he was outside the dried fish section of the Taboan Market when four people approached him saying that there was a snatching incident in the place. It was then that he was arrested.

RTC Judge Macaundas Hadjirasul, in his decision, said that the court has no reason to doubt the testimonies of the prosecution’s witness saying that an evidence to be worthy of credit must not only proceed from a credible source but must in addition be credible in itself.

“Nothing has been shown to have motivated those witnesses to make up a story or falsely implicate the accused of the crime, let alone the offense charged,” Hadjirasul added.

Hadjirasul also said that the presumption of irregularity in the performance of official duties has not been overturned.

 On top of the 15 years imprisonment term, Santir was ordered to pay a fine of P300,000. — Jasmin U. Labaco/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)