Tag: Alabang boys

Sana magkaroon ng katuturan ang pagpalaya sa Alabang Boys

Published by Ellen on August 28, 2011

Santiago and Marcelino: a good team at PDEA

Maayos naman ang mga reaksyun ng dating hepe ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency na si Dionisio Santiago at ni Marine Major Ferdinand Marcelino ng dating hepe ng PDEA Special Enforcement Service sa pagpawalang sala sa dalawa sa tatlong akusado sa grupong tinagurian ng media na “Alabang Boys.”

Pinalaya na sina Jorge Joseph at Richard Brodett , kabilang sa mga mayayaman na pamilya,pagkatapos ma- absuwelto ng Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Judge Juanita Guerrero ng paglabag ng Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act ng 2002.

Maala-ala na nahuli sila sa isang buy-bust operation na nagbe-benta ng shabu sa ahente ng PDEA noong Septyembre 20, 2008 sa Ayala Alabang, tirahang eksklusibo para sa mga mayayaman. Ang isa pa nilang kasama na si Joseph Tecson ay nahuli sa magkaibang operasyun sa Quezon City. Naghihintay na rin ng desisyun ng korte si Tecson.

‘Alabang Boys’ acquitted on technicality

Published by Ellen on August 26, 2011

Joseph and Brodett — Jorge Joseph and Richard Brodett. Photo from the Inquirer

By Marlon Ramos, Miko Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer

A “glaring blunder” in the handling of evidence has led to the acquittal of two of the so-called “Alabang Boys” arrested in 2008 for the alleged possession and sale of 60 “ecstasy” tablets.

“That (breach) in the chain of custody of evidence became a fatal flaw,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Friday after a Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court judge dismissed the charges against Richard Brodett and Jorge Joseph, citing the prosecution’s failure to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Relatives of the two young men gave out a whoops of relief and joy after the court handed down the verdict, ending a two-year, 11-month legal battle marked by charges of bribery and the intervention at one point of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Prosecution flaws bog down fight vs drugs

Published by Ellen on January 28, 2011

By IBARRA C. MATEO AND YVONNE T. CHUA
VERA Files

Cai Qing HaiFOR many years, Chinese national Cai Qing Hai had been on the list of Asia’s “most wanted drug manufacturers and traffickers,” with law enforcers from three countries—the Philippines, China and Malaysia—hot on his trail.

Cai was no ordinary drug dealer. He headed a transnational syndicate which Chinese authorities said produced 1.7 tons of methamphetamine hydrocloride or “shabu” in the three countries. He was also slippery prey—in 2005, he escaped prison by bribing his jailers in Malaysia just as they were about to hand him over to Chinese law enforcers. Cai then fled to Manila, which he has considered his second home since he was 13.

In October 2007, Philippine anti-narcotics agents caught up with Cai, then 36 and using the alias Bruce Esteban Ong, in his clandestine shabu laboratory in Sta Cruz, Laguna. They thought they had helped put an end to the activities of one of Asia’s most dangerous men.

Arroyo’s ‘consuelo de bobo’ to Gonzalez

Published by Ellen on March 24, 2009

Update: PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago disapproves Marcelino’s leave request due to operational commitments. But Santiago gave him clearance to help in Sulu operation to get back the ICRC hostages from the Abu Sayaff.

See PDEA statement in Comments.

Maj Marcelino, PDEA

When Marine Major Ferdinand Marcelino saw his mother last Saturday upon his arrival from Vienna where he attended an international conference on combatting illegal drugs, she expressed concern over reports that Gloria Arroyo has ordered that he be investigated.

In Mrs. Marcelino’s pure understanding of the way things should be in this world, her son did his job despite odds and pressure, why should he be the one to be investigated?

The order for the investigation of Marcelino, who is detailed with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, was one among the several orders issued by Arroyo based on the recommendation of the three-man fact-finding commission headed by former Supreme Court Justice Carolina Griño-Aquino.

Marcelino dares officials under probe to go on leave

Published by Ellen on March 23, 2009

Marcelino himself goes on leave

Click here for VERA Files story

Marines Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino, head of the Special Enforcement Service of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, yesterday challenged all government officials under investigation to go on leave as a matter of “delicadeza.”

“Kung sa Hapon ito, may mag-harakiri na,” he said.

Marcelino, who exposed the alleged bribery in the Alabang Boys case, said he himself is taking a leave of absence from PDEA after President Arroyo ordered him investigated for “taking into himself the job of prosecutor” by releasing Patrick El Khoury, driver of the vehicle where a drug deal was reportedly consummated.

Arroyo issued the order last week based on the recommendations of a fact-finding board she created to look into the bribery allegations and determine the legality of the conduct of the PDEA operations in September last year that netted the three so-called Alabang Boys.

Arroyo orders filing of bribery charge vs Resado but also wants Marcelino investigated

Published by Ellen on March 20, 2009

Update: The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency expressed appreciation and gratitude for the partial victory it got on the Alabang Boys case.

PDEA Director General/Senior Undersecretary Dionisio R. Santiago said that the Executive Decision was well-balanced and in the lawful exercise of her authority as the country’s anti-drug czar. “We are happy with the decision and we will abide by the directives issued by the President.’ he said..

Click here for Malacañang press release on Arroyo’s order.

Click here for VERA Files story: Resado faces bribery raps for Alabang Boys resolution

Click here for Inquirer story and here for history of the Alabang Boys case

Gloria Arroyo ordered the filing of bribery charges against State Prosecutor John Resado in connection with the “Alabang Boys” case but also directed that Marine Major Ferdinand Marcelino, head of the Special Enforcement Service of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), be investigated.

In a reversal of the controversial resolution penned by Resado on Dec. 2, 2008 dismissing the complaints against Richard Brodett, Jorge Joseph and Joseph Tecson and ordering their immediate release, Arroyo ordered the filing of criminal charges against the three media has dubbed “Alabang Boys” who were caught in possession of illegal drugs Ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana in a buy-bust operation conducted by PDEA agents on Sept. 20, 2008.

Binaligtad na

Published by Ellen on February 11, 2009

Pare-pareho ang istilo nitong mga sangkot sa Alabang Boys na kontrobersiya. Kapag naipit binabaligtad ang totoo.

Di ba si John Resado ang prosecutor na nagkaroon ng P1.6 milyon sa araw na pinadismis niya ang kaso laban kina Richard Brodett, Joseph Tecson at Jorge Joseph ay gumawa ng kwento na sinubukan daw siyang suhulan ni Atty. Alvaro Lazaro ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency?

Ngayon ito namang sina Brodett sinabi sa independent (kuno) fact-finding committee na nagi-imbistiga sa napabalitang suhulan ng mga Alabang Boys ng mga prosecutors na hindi raw buy-bust operation ang nangyari noong Sptiembre 2008 nag nahuli sila.

The evils of drug abuse

Published by Ellen on February 8, 2009

Update: Rep. Roilo Golez raises questions on “independent” panel investigating Alabang Boys bribery case.

Please see under comments section.

I got a letter from a province mate, Restituto Tapacal, about the gang-rape and murder of a high school student which he said, “sent chills and shock to the peace loving people of Antique.”

Tapacal said the victim, a daughter of a prominent family in Antique was riding on a motorcycle with her boyfriend along the road in barangay Dalila early evening when a group of men hit them with a wooden club. “The boyfriend lost consciousness and the men grabbed the girl and brought her to ‘kampo”, an area adjacent to the police headquarters. The men took turns in raping her.”

While they were doing their evil acts, the girl’s cellphone rang. It was the girl’s mother asking where she was. One of the rapists even mocked the mother, telling her of what they were doing to her daughter, Tapacal related.

CA rejects habeas corpus petition of Alabang boys

Published by Ellen on February 2, 2009

by Evangeline de Vera
Malaya

The Court of Appeals yesterday affirmed the legality of the continued detention of the so-called Alabang Boys despite a prosecution panel’s recommendation to dismiss the drug charges filed against them.

In denying the petition for habeas corpus of Richard Brodett, Joseph Tecson and Jorge Joseph, the CA said preliminary investigations of the Department of Justice have not been concluded, citing the requirement that the recommendation be approved by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.

The three remain in the custody of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency which caught them in buy-bust operations in Quezon City and Muntinlupa in September last year.

Signing official documents on a holiday

Published by Ellen on January 27, 2009

Prosecutor John Resado sinks himself deeper . The more he talked the more that his story becomes incredible.He admitted to making a P800,000 deposit on the day he finalized the resolution dismissing the case against Brodett, Tecson and Joseph and ordering their release,

The date of the resolution was Dec. 2, 2008. Information tipped to the National Bureau of Investigation said Resado and his wife deposited separately two P800,000 in a bank in Bacoor, Cavite. He admitted only to one P800,000 which he said came from their money-lending business. He said the deposit had nothing to do with the resolution.

To stress the disconnect between the Dec. 2 resolution and the Dec. 2 deposit, Resado said he actually signed the resolution on Dec. 1.

Resado forgot to check his calendar. Dec. 1, a Monday, was declared by Gloria Arroyo a non-working holiday to observe Andres Bonifacio day which fell on a Sunday.

Magsabi na lang kasi ng totoo, ano.

Prosecutor declines to open bank accounts