Woman gets life for less than a gram of shabu
For selling less than a gram of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, a top drug personality was sentenced by the trial court to life imprisonment yesterday morning.
Judge Evelyn Salao, presiding judge of Regional Trial Court branch 25, this city, also ordered Ma. Victoria Arroyo a.k.a Vic-Vic to pay the State half a million pesos in fine for violating the anti-illegal drugs law.
Police and anti-narcotics agents arrested Arroyo during a buy bust last February 15, 2008 at a billiard place near her house in Brgy. Zamora, City Proper. Recovered from her possession, aside from the marked money, were two sachets of shabu, weighing a total of 0.09 grams, valued at P500 each.
In convicting the accused, the court gave preference to the testimony of the arresting officers that Arroyo peddled illegal drugs.
In its decision, the court brushed aside the argument of the defense that the items which were recovered from Arroyo were not marked at the scene where they were recovered, but instead at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Administration (PDEA) office. Salao cited that this was no longer feasible because the authorities were mobbed by friends and sympathizers of Arroyo.
The Court also disregarded the contention of Arroyo that police failed to present in court the marked money used in the buy bust.
Paul Ledesma, regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, was elated with the conviction of Arroyo, who he described as the ‘Drug Queen’ of the City’s waterfront area.
“Indeed justice is really working the way it should be,” he said, adding that the Court’s decision would boost the morale of the PDEA to combat the proliferation of narcotics in the city.
This sends a strong message to those aspiring to fill the void left by Arroyo that you too would suffer her fate, Ledesma added.
Ledesma, in an earlier interview with The News Today, reiterated that the fight against illegal drugs is not yet over although it is gaining strength because of the growing support from the different barangays in the city.
“We should understand that the fight against illegal drugs is not our fight. It is the community’s fight. The PDEA is here to concert all efforts to fight this menace,” said Ledesma. He encouraged residents to report any drug activity and personality through telephone number 3371600 or e-mail to pdea6@yahoo.com.
Also, it was learned that arrested drug personalities will no longer find it easy to have their cases dismissed because of the issuance of Executive Order 253 which requires that the President of the Philippines should review all drug cases.
This means that if the Prosecutor, Assistant State Prosecutor and Secretary of Justice dismiss the cases that pass through them in their respective levels, the suspect, still, cannot be released because the case will have to be referred to the President for her review. So, there’s supposed to be no drug suspect that is released after his or her arrest. EO 253 makes sure that the usual ‘settlement of cases’ to free the suspect, is not made. If a release is made, a violation has been made, Ledesma said.
“I urge the community to protect itself from illegal drugs. It is a social menace that could become a national threat if not solved. The solution should come from within; when an addict and pusher would say that they would no longer continue with their illegal actions,” Ledesma concludes.
Arroyo’s laywer, Jun Eric Cabardo, told The News Today yesterday that they would appeal the decision, though he refused to comment further because it might constitute remarks against an ongoing court proceeding. (With reports from Kathy Villalon)