Drug pusher gets life, P1-M fine

MANILA, Philippines – A big-time drug pusher was meted life imprisonment and fined P1 million yesterday, six years after National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents found 998 grams of shabu during a raid on his house in Pasig City.

Judge Achilles Bulauitan of the Pasig Regional Trial Court Branch 154 also sentenced Abulkair Luminog to another two years in jail and fined him P20,000 for possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to court records, NBI agents raided Luminog’s house in 2008 after several weeks of surveillance operations and test buys in Manila and Pasig.

Luminog disappeared after posting P120,000 bail and remains at large.

“The flight of the accused is strong evidence of guilt and under the circumstances an admission that he really had no well-founded defense to the charges against him,” Bulauitan said.

The judge said under Republic Act 9165, the death penalty and a fine ranging from P.5 million to P10 million can be imposed on those convicted of possessing of 50 grams or more of shabu.

“Considering that death penalty may no longer be imposed, the accused is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P1 million,” Balauitan said.