Six drug pushers receive life terms

Six drug pushers, including a big-time dealer caught with 19 sachets of shabu, will spend the rest of their lives in jail after the Makati City Regional Trail Court (RTC) found them guilty of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Law of 2002, a city official said yesterday.

Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado said a police officer was also sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for possession of illegal drugs.

Mercado said Judge Delia Panganiban of Makati RTC Branch 135, in four separate decisions, sentenced Ceferino Dy alias "Boy Hapon," Jesus Hapa, George Eyam, Wilfredo Encila, Ricardo Jacob and Donato Capco to life imprisonment.

The court said all the accused were found guilty of violating Section 11 (possession) of Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

Mercado, who chairs the Makati Anti-Drug Abuse Council (MADAC), lauded Panganiban’s decisions, saying the verdicts will certainly boost the city’s campaign against illegal drugs. 

Dy was slapped with double life imprisonment.

Mercado he was arrested after selling 0.23 grams shabu to a MADAC operative during a buybust operation at a hotel in Guadalupe, Makati three years ago.

When searched, he yielded 11.23 more grams of shabu in 19 sachets.

Mercado said the court gave weight to evidence and testimonies of MADAC operatives and policemen who conducted the raids, noting that the prosecution was able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The court ruled that the denials of the accused were weak especially when the prosecution succeeded in proving the presence of all the elements of the offenses as charged.

Mercado announced that apart from double life imprisonment, Dy was ordered to pay a fine of P900,000.

He said the other five accused were ordered to pay P500,000 each.

Hapa was nabbed while delivering 4.50 grams of shabu to a policeman identified as PO1 Peter Gonzales.

Gonzales, who was dismissed after his arrest for drug use, was found guilty of possession of shabu.