'NARCO-JUDGES' FOIL FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

Judges under the sway of drug syndicates frustrate efforts of the
government to gain headway in the fight against drugs, a congressional
hearing was told Tuesday night.

The revelation prompted calls for the establishment of a system to monitor
the progress of drug cases in court.

At a committee hearing of the Congressional Oversight Committee on
Dangerous Drugs, members of the committee from the Senate and the House of
Representatives agreed that drug lords - using money made in illegal drug
trade operations - have judges and police under their control.

The evidence so alarmed the oversight committee as to drive them to create
a "National Drugs Cases Monitoring System." This will closely monitor all
drug cases, big or small, from the police level, through the handling of
the information and filing of the cases by fiscals and prosecutors, to the
level of the courts.

The aim is to counteract the power of drug money over the law enforcement
agencies and the judiciary.

The hearing was presided over by Sen. Robert Barbers, chair of the Senate
Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs and the Congressional Oversight
Committee on Dangerous Drugs, and Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco.

Lawmakers saw during the hearing how big drug cases - involving millions of
pesos - were being routinely dismissed on flimsy grounds, enabling the
suspected drug lords and dealers, most of them Chinese nationals, to escape.

At least four huge drug cases were dismissed on flimsy grounds, it was learned.

Three were raids on shabu laboratories in Lipa, Quezon City, Laoag in
Ilocos Norte. The fourth case was a shabu bust in Leyte.

Barbers said he was sure many of the "narco-judges" received drug money to
dismiss the cases.

"Of course it is as simple as that. If it is a drug lord who is involved in
the commission of an anomaly so definitely drug money is involved," Barbers
told The Manila Times.

He said several cases identified by the government agencies and lawmakers
show proof of these "flagrant com-mission" of anomalies in the judiciary.

Interior and Local Govern-ments Secretary Jose Lina Jr. described a case
involving a drug lab raided in Loyola Heights in Quezon City. In this case,
he said, three Filipinos and seven Chinese nationals were arrested.

The judge, whom Lina did not name, dismissed the case on a technicality:
the search warrant used by the raiding team had been issued by a Manila court.

"But what is even more glaring was the judge did not even wait for someone
from the defense panel to motion for a dismissal. He dismissed it moto
propio or immediately," Lina said.

Leyte Rep. Ted Failon said there was a similar case in his area. "It
appeared that the drug influence in this particular case does not only
involve the judge but even those in the police ranks and all the way up to
the prosecutors," he said.

Ilocos Norte's Rep. Roquito Ablan said he knows of a drug case involving
about 170 kilos of shabu which was also dismissed on a technicality.

Sen. Noli de Castro said the case involving the shabu lab in Lipa was
dismissed on the same grounds. The suspects almost got away.

"This is just one piece of evidence that judges are really involved in the
illegal drug trade or protectors of drug lords and that drug money is
definitely being used," De Castro said.

"Had it not been for the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation and the PDEA
agents, the suspects could have gotten away. Although one of the seven
Chinese nationals was allowed by the BID to be deported voluntarily, I
could not imagine why," Lina told the committee.

"These are the judges whom I consider scalawag judges," Barbers said.

But Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III said narcotics money seeping
through the justice system, from the fiscals to the judges, has been
happening for a long time now, even when he was still Quezon City vice mayor.

"These fiscals and judges exactly use technicality to dismiss the cases and
I challenge the PDEA to identify these judges and charge them," he said.

Barbers said cleansing the justice system falls on the Supreme Court's
shoulders.

De Castro agreed. "The Sup-reme Court should hasten the due process in
going after these crooked judges, not just narco-judges but also the
ordinarily crooked ones because they could be involve in other cases. They
should get the lesson that they deserve. Penalize them with life
imprisonment, disbar them and ban them from any appointive or elective
position in govern-ment," he said.

Barbers said the committee would meet again and speci-fically discuss
further the alarming condition of the judiciary, now hampering the
government's anti-drug cam-paign.

Immigration officials said they do not get from the Philippine National
Police a complete list of suspected alien drug traffickers.

The source told The Manila Times that without the needed information on the
identities of drug syndicate members, the BI is helpless.

"This is the reason why some members of drug cartels or drug syndicates
often slip out or enter the country easily," the source said.

"If we had a list, then we could ban them from entering the country or put
them on the hold departure order or watch list order if they are in the
country," he said.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo said the BI has no power to hold or
ban any foreigner if he or she complies with immigration laws.

Domingo pointed out that the BI could not also prevent an undesirable
foreigner from leaving the country if he or she has voluntary requested for
deportation.

A foreigner, Domingo added, could only be prevented from leaving if formal
charges have been filed against him in court or he is put on the
hold-departure-order list.

A foreigner facing criminal charges could only leave once cleared by court
or after serving his sentence if convicted.

Only the President, the court and the Justice secretary can issue a hold
departure order and the BI only implements them.

The BI may put a foreigner on its watch list to prevent him from leaving
the country, but this is only good for 90 days.

Supreme Court spokesman Ismael Khan, in an interview, said the High Court
does not tolerate any wrongdoing by judges.

"The Supreme Court does not tolerate misbehavior by judges. Over the past
years, scores of judges have been dismissed due to grave misconduct and
ignorance of the law," Khan said.

However, Khan urges those accusing judges of being in cahoots with drug
lords to present evidence so that the Supreme Court can take action.

"It will be up to those making the accusations to make these charges stick
and the Supreme Court will do the rest," he said.