PDEA drug raid a publicity stunt - Boratong

MANILA, Philippines - Last Friday’s drug raid on a house reportedly owned by alleged shabu flea market operator Amin Imam Boratong in Pasig City is just a publicity stunt, his lawyer said yesterday.

Raymond Fortun also accused Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency of having “obviously planted” 200 grams of shabu seized from the house, which the PDEA claimed was known to residents of Barangay Sto. Tomas as Boratong’s “Malacañang House.”

Fortun said he strongly believes the PDEA raid was a publicity stunt, and STAR sources did not rule out the possibility that the raid was meant to focus public attention on the upcoming sentencing of Boratong and his second wife, Sheryl Molera, by a Pasig City court on maintenance of a drug den charges against them.

“The property known as “Malacañang House” is in the middle (and) stands on government lot and does not belong to the Boratong spouses,” he told The STAR.

He said Boratong’s first wife, Memie, certified they are not the owners of the raided house. Fortun said he is talking with Memie because he has no direct contact with Boratong, who is currently detained along with Molera at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon claimed they found in the masters’ bedroom of the three-story house a certificate of attendance bearing Boratong’s name and picture, as well as several deposit slips amounting to P250,000 under the account of Boratong’s 17-year-old daughter.

He said the 200 grams of shabu, in five plastic bags, were found under the water tank on the roof of the house, which is only a “jumping distance” away from the roof of a mosque.

“I mean, you are telling me that a big shipment of shabu was left scattered in the house without anybody guarding it? Nobody was arrested for possession of shabu, right? It is not credible in the ordinary course of human experience,” Fortun said.

Testifying before Pasig Regional Trial Court Judge Abraham Borreta, government witness Samer Palao said the Malacañang House is where the “sistemadores” of the shabu tiangge remitted their earnings to Boratong.

Palao said the Boratong couple maintained at least 15 employees just to count millions of pesos of the shabu tiangge’s daily earnings.

He claimed that Boratong kept his shabu shipment in the basement of the house, which is located several blocks away from the shabu tiangge located along F. Soriano street in Barangay Sto. Tomas.

Government agents raided the shabu tiangge in 2006 and at least 300 persons were arrested. Borreta scheduled the promulgation of the case against Boratong and Molera next month.

When asked whether the PDEA raid is related to the promulgation of Boratong’s case, Fortun did not give a categorical answer. But he admitted that had the PDEA raiders caught Memie in the Malacañang House, Fortun said “there is no further reason for the court to acquit Boratong.”

When asked what he expects of Borreta’s decision, Fortun said, “Hope for the best, (but I also) expect the worst.”  – Non Alquitran