Shabu tiangge’s No. 2 man admits earning P.2 M weekly

A government witness against the alleged operator of the raided shabu "tiangge" in Pasig City claimed he received P200,000 as weekly salary from his former employer.

Samer Palao, 39, alias Tangkad, said he earned more than P10 million in the few years he worked as the right-hand man of alleged drug tiangge operator Amin Imam Boratong.

Despite the easy money, Palao decided to quit the drug syndicate and reveal the extent its operations so authorities can put a stop to the illegal activities of his former boss.

"Kung sa pera, sobra-sobra ang ibinibigay ni Amin sa akin. Pero dapat mahinto na ang illegal niyang negosyo dahil maraming inosenteng nadadamay, pati na ang kinabukasan ng mga kabataan," Palao told The Star.

The witness said Boratong started as a small-time drug pusher, with a capital of only P5,000. The police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) said Boratong assets are worth P900 million.

The Star interviewed Palao last Wednesday night in an undisclosed safehouse after getting clearance from top officials from AIDSOTF and the Pasig City police.

This reporter and a photographer thoroughly searched by his guards from the Special Action Force (SAF) before being allowed entry to the safehouse where Palao was staying.

When asked why he decided to testify against his former boss, Palao said, "Wala kaming away ni Amin. Nagkahiwalay kami nang maayos. Tumayo lang ako dahil gusto ko lang matapos na itong klaseng negosyo bago lumala pa."

Palao admitted he was sick. "Gusto ko na kapag mamatay man ako, mag-iwan ng malalim na alaala sa pagbigay ng tulong sa gobyerno para permanenteng mahinto ang negosyo ni Amin," he said.

According to him, Boratong was born to poor parents in 1974 at Galawan Lumbe Bayabaw in Marawi City. "Andon ako nang ipinanganak siya dahil palagi ako sa bahay nila."

Boratong, he said, married his first wife, Memie, at age 15 and stopped going to school.

In 1997, Palao went to Manila to look for a job. Boratong followed months later and joined him at the Mapayapa compound.

"Nagbenta pa ng kalan at iba pang gamit sa kusina ‘yan para may pamasahe sila ni Memie at panganay niya," he said.

In December of that year, Boratong bought five grams of shabu for P5,000 from a certain Omar in Quiapo. After several hours of peddling shabu in the squatters area at the back of the shabu tiangge, he was able to make P30,000.

"Masaya siya dahil sa konting kapital biglang lumago ang pera niya. Kaya pinag-igihan pa niya ang pagbenta ng shabu hanggang lumaki na ito," Palao said.

The witness said Boratong started acquiring real estate and other properties when his drug business started earning millions in 2003.

Palao accompanied Boratong in several of his business transactions.

Boratong would ask him to temporarily run the drug business whenever he had to attend to personal matters.

"Kapag wala siya, halimbawa uuwi siya ng Marawi City, ipinakilala niya ako sa lahat na trabahador at ako muna ang papalit sa kanya. Ang lahat ng desisyon ko ang nasusunod," he said.

Boratong also tasked Palao to personally count the P1,000 and P500 bills the syndicate had been earning, especially in the month of December which, he claimed was the peak season of the illegal drug business.

He said at least eight other people, mostly relatives of Boratong’s wife Memie, count the smaller bills.

According to Palao, Boratong had been very generous to him. "Kapag maganda ang kita, aabutan niya ako ng P100,000. At tuwing Pasko naman tumataginting na P500,000 ang natatanggap ko."

He said when there was an adequate supply of illegal drugs, Boratong would use all his savings to purchase a large quantity of shabu.

"Ang ginagawa niya, ang sobrang supply sa shabu tiangge itatago niya at kapag tag-tuyot tulad ng Disyembre o Enero halos lahat ng pusher sa Visayas, Mindanao at Luzon ay sa kanya kumukuha kaya’t biglang lumaki ang negosyo niya," Palao said.

He explained that there is a scarce supply of shabu in the country during the last month and first month of the year because members of Taiwanese and Chinese drug syndicates go home to their respective countries for a long vacation with their families.

When he surfaced last June to spill the beans on Boratong’s illegal activities, Palao said AIDSOTF and Pasig City policemen did not believe his story.

But when he led policemen, armed with video cameras, to the properties of Boratong and his wife in Bulacan, Marawi City and Metro Manila, top officials of AIDSOTF and Pasig police started showing interest in him.