THE NEXT CUBA

Cebu Corners 99 Percent Of All Drug Cases In The Region

If you ask Judge Fortunato de Gracia to describe the city's drug situation,
he'd call it an epidemic.

And though the statement may be alarmist there is little room to doubt its
truth since it is uttered by a judge who, together with two others, handles
all the drug cases filed before the Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC).

De Gracia presides over the 15th branch of the Cebu RTC. It is a special
sala that hears nothing but drug cases. The other two courts are Branch 10
of Judge Soliver Peras, and Branch 17 of Judge Silvestre Maamo Jr.

Minutes after being interviewed for this special report, de Gracia sentenced
a couple for drugs possession. A former disk jockey arrested with over 300
grams of shabu in May of last year, Virgilio Libago received 20 to 40 years,
while his partner, Ma. Rizalita, was sentenced to a minimum of six months to
a maximum of two and a half years.

Interviewed separately, all three judges paint the same dark picture for
Cebu, contradicting the hype that the city is among the 'most livable in
Asia.'

Peras was most unequivocal: 'If nothing is done to solve the drug problem,
Cebu will be the next Cuba.'

Dismal

Over a thousand drug cases get filed before the RTC every year, and each
gets raffled off to either of the three salas for handling.

The figures have been increasing since the last quarter of 1999, according
to a report prepared by court statistician Rose Marie Pe and recently
submitted by RTC Clerk of Court Jeoffrey Joaquino to the Supreme Court (SC).

For the last four months of 1999, 539 cases were filed before the RTC, all
of which went to Judge Peras for hearing.

In 2000, 1,462 cases were filed, most of which were still raffled off to
Judge Peras. It was only during the late part of 2000 that the SC declared
RTC Branch 14, handled by RTC Judge Raphael Yrastorza, and Branch 17, of
Judge Maamo, as special drug courts. Branch 14 was, a year later, declared a
family court, and its drug caseload transferred to Judge de Gracia.

By 2001, fresh drug cases tallied 1,500, most of which were assigned to
Judge Maamo.

Last year, with the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 9165, the number of
drug cases filed before the RTC dipped. According to the inventory, only
1,247 fresh drug cases were received and raffled to the different anti-drug
salas for 2002.

Known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, RA 9165 expands the
scope of RA 6425 (Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972), as well as prescribes
harsher penalties like death for those caught with over 50 grams of shabu.

Three hundred eight cases were filed from January to March of last year;
followed by another 373 in April, May and June; 338 for July, August and
September; and 228 for the remaining months.

But while the dip may indicate that the new drug law works, the figures are
still alarming when taken in the context of a separate report submitted by
the Office of the Regional State Prosecutor (ORSP) to the Department of
Justice (DOJ).

In that report, prepared by Luis Labiaga and approved by then RSP Hernando
Masangkay, 1,234 or 99 percent of the 1,247 drug cases filed came from Cebu
City.

This year, the RTC figures are nearly as oppressive, with 913 drug cases
already filed from January to September alone.

The first quarter saw the filing of 194 cases of drug possession; 56 cases
for peddling; and 42 others for possession of drug use paraphernalia.
According to the same report prepared by RTC statistician Nelda Maureal,
there were more drug cases, at 292, than robbery and theft combined.

The second quarter showed a small dip in the total number of drug cases
filed, 255. Still on top of the list are possession charges at 131; charges
for the possession of drug-use paraphernalia, 44; peddling, 39; and other
drug-related incidents like the use of marijuana and other volatile
substances.

The figures went up with a vengeance during the third quarter, with a total
of 339 drug cases filed. Possession charges still topped the chart with 199
incidents, followed by possession of drug-use paraphernalia at 53; and
peddling at 45.

There were more drug cases than robbery, estafa, theft and murder combined
in the third quarter.

Deluged

Judges like de Gracia, Maamo and Peras struggle to keep up with the number
of cases thrown to them for handling.

While they are endorsed cases by the hundreds every month, they are lucky if
they can resolve a hundred in a year's time. Delays are more the rule than
the exception in drug cases, and the delays can be caused by the
prosecution, the defense or both.

'Some cases have not yet been arraigned because the prosecutor's schedule
and that of the lawyer representing the accused, especially those
represented by the Public Attorney's Office, cannot coincide,' de Gracia
said.

The availability of the witnesses, may it be the arresting officer or the
crime laboratory technician who tested the evidence, is also a factor, he
added.

A lawyer, separately interviewed, added that even the court's own schedule
is a factor that causes delays.

'We cannot have our accused arraigned immediately because the court's
calendar is busy. The accused unnecessarily has to stay in prison for longer
periods even if the case against him is weak because we cannot motion for
the dismissal of the case unless our client is already arraigned,' said the
source.

De Gracia admitted that keeping up with the number of cases filed on a daily
basis 'is not only improbable; it is impossible.'

He maintained that the volume of cases coming in 'cannot be expected to
abate.' Therefore, it is 'hopeless to rely on convictions' of cases
currently filed to serve as a precedent for others to discontinue their
abusive behavior.

He said that the only way to stop drug abuse on the streets is to 'cut the
flow of supply' by 'arresting, prosecuting and convicting those who supply,
deliver and distribute the illegal substance.'

He admitted though that 'nipping the problem in the bud' would be difficult,
considering the great motivation for those in the drug business to
perpetuate their dealings­money.

The drug incidents filed before the RTC represent the millions of money
generated by the illegal drugs trade.

At RTC branch 14 alone, a total of 7,975.3556 grams of shabu were obtained
from 48 cases resolved from Sept. 2000 to Nov. 2002. With the conservative
estimate of P10,000 per gram, the total value of the confiscated stocks is
already P79,753,556.

Replicate the figure three times to correspond to the number of courts
handling drug cases and, as de Gracia hinted, 'you will only begin to have a
small idea of just how much is one percent of what we are talking about.'

Given the high profitability of the drug trade, de Gracia projected that 'we
would just have to deal (for now) with (the increasing) individual drug use
and drug possession cases assigned to the court for resolution.'

Foolishness

Based on court records, there is a high level of acquittals in drug-related
cases.

For January to November this year alone, de Gracia's court sentenced 33
people to jail but exonerated 43 others.

Maamo, in the same period, imposed penalties on 46 individuals accused of a
drug charge but cleared 70 others.

Peras, who was able to handle more drug cases this year because the SC
temporarily stopped assigning him new drug cases, resolved 180 incidents: 35
convictions against 45 acquittals.

De Gracia said most cases are dismissed for either lack of probable cause
and the failure of the prosecution to prove their cases. He blames the PNP
for these weak cases.

'I always tell my prosecutors when they lose a case that they are only as
good as the cards that they are dealt to play with. You will win if the
facts, as given to you by the complainants (the police), and supported by
evidence, are solid. Now, what if the facts were fabricated?' he posed.

'In the case build-up alone, there is already a lot of foolishness.'

He narrated a case where the police reported that they arrested a college
student who was walking towards them while holding up a small pack of shabu
against the light of a streetlamp.

'Do you actually believe that somebody who buys shabu would do that in real
life? That's foolishness. That's their (police) foolishness.'

He said that 'there are a lot' of fabricated drug cases filed only to give
some members in the police force an opportunity to extort money from the
respondents.

'You would know because the arresting officers, who allegedly spent a lot of
time conducting surveillance operations and follow-ups just to bolster their
case, would suddenly fail to attend the hearings being called or, if they
come, begin contradicting their own testimonies.'

There are also instances where the policemen who made the arrest and the
ones presented as the arresting officers in court are not the same.

'They would pick the police officers who are used to testifying so that
their foolishness would not be readily uncovered during the cross
examination,' de Gracia narrated.

He said judges have tried to prevent the recurrence of these incidents by
underscoring the police's shenanigans in their decisions and resolutions,
hoping these issues will be taken up by the anti-graft office or the PNP
Internal Affairs Section.

Questionable

But the prosecution too has its share of drug-related controversies.

For January to June this year, fiscals at the Office of the Cebu City
Prosecutor dismissed 123 of the 559 complaints filed for inquest and
preliminary investigation.

The rate of dismissal so worried Cebu City Prosecutor Jose Pedrosa, he
excluded six prosecutors­Jesus Feliciano, Mary Ann Castro, William Canta,
Eulogio Borres, Dixon Fuentes and Victor Laborte­from further handling any
drug complaint. Of the six, Feliciano had the most number of dismissals, at
45.

Pedrosa's move, deemed by some of the prosecutors as an affront to their
credibility, resulted in all six storming his office last Aug. 5, demanding
an explanation for the prohibition and threatening a boycott.

The problem was solved only when Pedrosa and the prosecutors reached a
compromise agreement wherein all prosecutors take turns being a member of a
'panel of three' handling all inquest and preliminary investigation
proceedings on drug complaints filed before the office.

Assistant City Prosecutor Rodolfo Golez, who handles the review of all
resolutions involving drug cases, said some prosecutors outside the 'panel
of three' still handle the preliminary investigation and inquest of drug
cases.

Interviewed for this report, he said there are fewer dismissals now compared
to the previous months. He failed though to present a listing, citing his
secretary who is already 'retireable' and doesn't keep records.

Efforts to verify his claim resulted in nothing but more questions and,
perhaps, more controversies.

For example, in its 2003 consolidated drug report, prepared by
administrative officer Joel Pasculado, the Office of the Cebu City
Prosecutor only lists 325 fresh drug complaints filed for the first three
quarters of the year, excluding the 36 other complaints left pending from
last year.

Of these 361 cases, the report identified only four, which were supposedly
dismissed.

But in a similar record kept for January to June, 2003, prepared by
stenographer Victoria Maguyon and also approved by Pasculado, the number of
fresh drug complaints already reached 556, with 123 dismissals.

City Prosecutor Pedrosa would not comment on the discrepancy, except to say
that his office will 'look into the matter.'

Pedrosa's office, similarly, hasn't implemented a DOJ memorandum ordering
all prosecutors to submit for automatic review to the RSP those drug
complaints, involving five grams of shabu and above, that have been
dismissed.

The memorandum was issued last June 26 and provides that dismissals upheld
by the RSP are still subject to review by the Office of the Chief State
Prosecutor.

Regional State Prosecutor Rey Delgado said he would ask Pedrosa to conduct a
case audit to verify whether or not cases have been unnecessarily dismissed.

He nonetheless admitted that, under the memorandum, the dismissals are to be
automatically submitted to his office for review.