As witness proposal put forward: Teen pusher charged

CEBU, Philippines - Two charges have been filed against the 14-year-old girl arrested for selling drugs last Friday, one was for possession of illegal drugs and the other for selling illegal drugs, both crimes under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

The complaints against the minor were handled by state prosecutor Alex Gabud. During the inquest proceeding, the minor waived her right to answer the allegations filed against her. She, however, admitted that she had been selling drugs for one week.

She was seen crying with her mother and hugging her during the inquest proceedings.

Gabud told the media that the minor’s mother said she was not aware of the activities of her daughter. She even said her daughter asked her for money. Gabud will release the resolution of the complaints today.

Under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, a child who is 15 years of age or under at the time of the commission of the offense is exempted from criminal liability and will be subjected to an intervention program.

Superintendent Romeo Santander, City Intelligence Branch chief, said charges were filed against the girl yesterday even as the suspect’s mother was able to present a birth certificate authenticated by the National Statistics Office confirming her age.

He said although the girl was a minor they still pursued the case to show that they are serious in the fight against illegal drugs and also to deter drug lords from using minors.

During the filing of the case yesterday, a representative from the Department of Social Welfare and Development accompanied the girl.

Santander said that the girl was interviewed by DSWD but he clarified that the office has not issued a certificate confirming that she acted with discernment, as reported earlier.

“Na-interview lang nila, pero dili sila ka-kuan og discernment,” he said.

The CIB is now trying to determine the identity of the girl’s boss and supplier.

The 14-year-old girl was arrested by CIB operatives Friday night in Barangay Labangon after receiving reports that she might be engaged in illegal drugs. Her neighbors told police they often see suspicious people coming to visit her.

PO3s Armando Ponce Jr. and Journey Fuentes stated in their joint affidavit that they were the poseur-buyers during the operation.

On August 9, 2014 at around 6 p.m. their office were informed that the minor, who had been placed under surveillance, was spotted in her rented room at Balaga Drive, Barangay Labangon, Cebu City, repacking shabu.

“Careful not to tip off the minor on our police operation, we negotiated for a buy for 25 grams of shabu through intermediaries until we were able to gain her confidence and at about 7:40 p.m. on August 9, she finally agreed to sell us shabu worth P50,000 and agreed to meet us in her rented room in Balaga Drive, Barangay Labangon at around 8 p.m. of August 9,” the affidavit read.

The police said they arrived at the minor’s rented room at around 8:10 p.m. and conducted the buy-bust operation. After the sale was consummated they then arrested the minor.

The police recovered 12 big size of shabu, one large plastic of shabu, one disposable lighter and one digital weighing scale inside the room of the minor. The drugs were estimated at P6 million.

Witness protection

Meanwhile, Cebu City Acting Mayor Edgardo Labella suggested to Cebu City Police Office chief Noli Romana that the teenager should be assessed for inclusion in the witness protection program “if necessary.”

Labella brought up the suggestion during the Police Advisory Coordinating Council meeting yesterday.

“If necessary, maybe assure this 14-year-old that she should be covered under the witness protection because her life is in danger. She is a minor, so, she should be handled with prudence,” said Labella who is also PCAC chairman.

He said that maybe the minor is somehow adamant because of fear. 

“This girl must know who ordered her, but it should be done in a very delicate and careful manner especially minor man siya,” he said.

Another issue raised during the meeting was to assign the case of the minor to a female police officer and a DSWD social worker. Labella said that male policemen carry a certain risk of being “counter-charged” especially when the suspect is female.

“What’s important here is that we should carefully extract information as to who really ordered her to bring all those illegal drugs,” he added.

Labella, a lawyer, said that authorities should be very careful in dealing the minor and in extracting information because there are laws that protect them, like Republic Act No. 9344 (Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006) and Presidential Decree 603 (The Child and Youth Welfare Code), among others.

In an earlier interview, Labella also called for the revision of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act. –with Jean Marvette A. Demecillo/BRP (FREEMAN)