Mayoral bet gets bail in drug pushing case

MANILA, Philippines - A Pasig regional rrial court judge allowed yesterday a Mandaluyong City mayoralty candidate to post P700,000 bail, saying the evidence in the drug pushing case against him is weak.

Ernest Albert Domingo-Buan was arrested last Jan. 29 in Pasig City in a drug bust by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. Five sachets of cocaine were recovered from his person, PDEA said.

He was later charged with selling and possession of cocaine, a non-bailable offense, and the case was raffled off to Judge Abraham Borreta.

Borreta said the use by PDEA agents of a vehicle recovered in a previous operation and the mislabeling of evidence “cast doubt whether the operation actually took place and whether dangerous drugs were indeed taken from the person of the accused.”

In his 12-page decision, Borreta said under Section 7 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure, “No person charged with a capital offense or an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment shall be admitted to bail when the evidence of guilt is strong.”

He said Section 8 of the same rule gave the prosecution the burden of showing that the evidence is strong.

“Indeed, while there is evidence of guilt, the same is not strong to defeat the right of the accused to bail, hence the accused must be admitted to bail,” Borreta said.

In defending his decision, Borreta – who sentenced shabu flea market operators Amin Imam Boratong and Sheryl Molera to life imprisonment – said the evidence presented by the prosecution suffered from basic flaws and infirmities that he cannot simply disregard.

“What could have been strong and credible evidence for the prosecution was rendered somewhat weak and questionable by circumstances that the prosecution failed to explain satisfactorily, ” he said.

The judge said the use of a vehicle confiscated from an earlier operation is prohibited and yet was included by the PDEA agents in their “authority to operate.”

He also cited the failure of PDEA agents to observe Section 21 of Republic 9165, the anti-illegal drug law, which obligates law enforcers to take pictures of the seized evidence in the presence of the suspect’s representative or counsel, media, people in government and elected officials.

 “The court cannot still accept why the PDEA team proceeded with the buy-bust operation completely unprepared. They have no camera with which to take pictures of the seized items and they even failed to coordinate with the personalities named in Section 21,” Borreta said.

He also said PDEA chemist Japeth Santiago mistakenly labeled the seized illegal drugs as shabu in her report but the request for examination specifically described the subject as cocaine.

Borreta set a P500,000 bail for Buan for violation of Section 5 of RA 9165, which prohibits the sale of illegal drugs, and P200,000 for possession of cocaine.

Borreta’s decision was dated April 16 but was released only yesterday because he was hospitalized for weeks.

The judge said his findings were only for Buan’s petition for bail, adding that the prosecution has still to present evidence to prove Buan’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Meanwhile, the PDEA expressed disappointment over Borreta’s granting of bail to Buan.

PDEA Director General Dionisio directed the agency’s legal and prosecution service to carefully study all available legal remedies pertaining to the drug case against Buan.

“All is not lost. The case has not yet been dismissed. This is merely a grant of petition for bail. Our legal team will file a motion for reconsideration in coordination with the prosecutor to clarify the different points raised,” by Borreta, Santiago said through PDEA spokesman Derrick Carreon.