Witness admits P1-M offer to testify in Pasig drug den trial

A defense witness has admitted in open court that she was offered P1 million to testify in favor of alleged shabu flea market operator Amin Imam Boratong.

During cross-examination before Judge Abraham Borreta, of Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 154, Cherryl Pace, 23, said the offer was relayed to her through text messages by a certain Kuya Dado, who court records showed is one of the more than 60 “sistemadores” (pushers) of Boratong.

Pace said she forwarded the text messages to Senior Superintendent Jojo Acierto, executive officer of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF).

The prosecution presented the text messages during the resumption of the trial Thursday to show that Pace decided to join the camp of Boratong in exchange for money.

Earlier, Pace claimed she bolted the camp of the prosecution because she could not stomach telling “lies” regarding Boratong and his wife, Sheryl Molera, who are facing charges of maintaining a drug den.

She claimed four prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and her AIDSOTF handlers “coached” her to pin down Boratong and Molera.

Pace testified in favor of Boratong last Oct. 9. She said her testimony with regards to the operation of the shabu flea market is true, except the portion regarding the participation of Boratong and Molera, for which she was “coached.”

The DOJ prosecutors pointed out that they only started meeting with Pace during Borreta’s deliberation on the motion for bail of Boratong.

The prosecutors presented as evidence records of Pace’s testimony in September 2006, which guided Borreta in meting life terms on at least 65 of the more than 300 suspects arrested by government agents during a raid on the shabu flea market in Barangay Sto. Tomas, Pasig last Feb.10, 2006.

Pace’s testimony played a key role in Borreta’s decision to deny Boratong and Molera bail.

Last Sept. 28, Pace admitted she and her father visited the AIDSOTF office in Camp Crame to seek Acierto’s help with regards to the Boratong camp’s monetary offer.

The prosecution said Pace’s father signed a document stating that Boratong’s camp was harassing his daughter and Dado’s offer of P300,000 downpayment for the witness to switch sides.

As she agreed with AIDSOTF, Pace took her family home to Leyte for their safety before deciding to return to Metro Manila since her police handlers were calling to set up the arrest of Mimi, Boratong’s Muslim wife.

“Mimi would hand over the money to me,” Pace said. “The AIDSOTF, who would be positioned nearby, would arrest her and we agreed to demand money from her because she has a lot of cash.”

However, when she returned to Metro Manila last Oct. 3, Pace called up Mimi and informed her of her wish to testify in Boratong’s favor.

Pace did not say whether she received money from Boratong’s camp in exchange for her testimony on Oct. 9 and last Thursday. But she admitted talking to Mimi prior to her appearance in court.

During a re-direct examination, Pace claimed she and defense lawyer Raymond Fortun met once before she testified in court.

“He (Fortun) told me to tell the truth in court and nothing else,” she said.