Defense to present witnesses in Boratong trial

Lawyers representing businessman Amin Imam Boratong and his wife will soon start presenting witnesses to disprove allegations that they were behind the operation of a shabu flea market in Pasig City, which government agents raided in 2006.

Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 154 Judge Abraham Borreta told The STAR that lawyers of Boratong and his second wife, Sheryl Molera, will start presenting their evidence and nine witnesses when the hearings resume on Sept. 4, “and every Thursday thereafter.”

Borreta denied them bail last week, saying that  “without passing judgment upon the guilt of the accused… the court has come to the conclusion that the evidence against the accused is strong.”

Boratong and Molera were charged with maintenance of a drug den. Borreta claimed his decision to deny bail to Boratong and Molera is based on the testimonies of government witnesses Samer Palao, Gina Dean and Sherylaira Pace.

Palao is a former right-hand man of Boratong while Pace and Dean worked in the shabu flea market. Borreta said Palao testified that Boratong is the “top man” while Molera is “involved” in the operation of the drug den. Pace and Dean corroborated Palao’s testimony.

Aside from Palao, Pace and Dean, the prosecution also presented as witnesses retired police general Marcelo Ele, former commander of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force, Police Officer 3 Jose Rey Serrona, and lawyer Rafael Echaluse of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

Echaluse testified that AMLC was able to trace at least P907 million proceeds of Boratong in his shabu flea market operations in two years.

The prosecution rested its case against Boratong and Molera last month.

In his 15-page decision to deny Boratong and Molera bail, the judge claimed that the combined testimonies of the witnesses detailed how the supply of shabu was obtained, how it was delivered to the compound and packaged, then subsequently consumed or sold in the flea market.

Dean and Pace testified that the money derived from the sale of shabu were remitted to Boratong and Molera in a compound called “Malacañang” and later on deposited in a nearby bank. The witnesses claimed Boratong used the money to buy real estate and personal properties.

More than 300 people were charged when government agents raided the shabu flea market in the Mapayapa compound on F. Soriano street in Barangay Sto. Tomas on Feb. 10, 2006. Boratong and Molera eluded arrest.

The cases were raffled off to three judges and Borreta presided over 148 cases involving 65 people.

National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Boratong and Molera, who pleaded not guilty during the arraignment of the case on Nov. 29, 2006.

Borreta had meted life imprisonment on at least 13 of the accused while the rest were sentenced to various prison terms.