We are proud of you Judge Borreta

Filmmaker Martin Butler travelled to the Philippines to investigate the impact the drug is having on communities there. He visited shabu dens in some of the country’s poorest slums and spoke to those who use it and deal in it as well as those fighting a losing battle to stamp it out.

One of the fastest growing drug problems in the world is with ‘ice’ or crystal meth. It is known as shabu in the Philippines where official estimates suggest that about seven million people — almost 10 per cent of the population — use the drug.

A deal of shabu costs about $3.

Once confined to the urban middle class, it is now the drug of choice in the country’s desperately poor slums and suburbs. Users go to shabu dens where they smoke the drug, although it can also be injected, snorted or dissolved in water. They stay at the dens all night playing on illegal gambling machines.

The drug keeps users awake and, as it is often taken at night, that can impact on work or school the next day unless more is taken. It is a pattern that encourages addiction and health authorities are concerned about the long-term repercussions of the explosion in use.

Life Sentence

More than 60 per cent of the world’s consumption of crystal meth is in Asia and much of that supply is made by Chinese drug lords operating from the Philippines.

Police there are starting to discover industrial-style labs capable of producing a tonne or more of the drug each day. That equates to about 10 million hits a day.

Shabu can be made easily and cheaply from ephedrine, which is used in legitimate drugs such as cough medicine.

The scale of the trade and the depth of corruption it causes is best illustrated by the case of Ronnie Mitra. He was the mayor of Quezon province when he was arrested in 2001 for trafficking more than 500k of shabu. Last August he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The shabu crisis is rapidly filling the country’s prisons. There is a mandatory life sentence for selling even the smallest quantity of the drug. Holding cells are full of young men and women brought in for selling just a few dollars worth.

With a mandatory no bail policy and life in prison, if convicted, the impact on families and communities is huge.

Marybeth Basura was sentenced to life two years ago for selling $70 of shabu. She has an 11-year-old son.

Looking around her cramped cell she explains that most of the other women in there are also serving life sentences for selling shabu.

She says: “My mother said that he [Marybeth's son] joined other kids in collecting scrap metal to raise money for my bail. He didn’t realise that I’d already been sentenced to life.

“It’s rather sad isn’t it? He didn’t know.”

When asked what she dreamt of for her future before she was imprisoned, Marybeth says: “It seems too late for that. Really it’s too late.

“Life sentence, it seems like it’s forever.”

Marybeth is languishing in jail essentially because she is poor and powerless. If you are rich and into shabu you do have other options.

Fer was addicted to shabu for 26 years, but managed to stay out of prison. His family forced him into rehabilitation two years ago.

He is now a counsellor at Penuel House — a new rehabilitation centre in a well-to-do suburb of the capital, Manila.

He paints a frightening picture of the extent of shabu use among the middle class.

“I was working in a bank, I had a career, had money, I had friends, but still it ruined me.

“In every sector of life, in business, in casinos, airline companies. Everywhere where someone could afford shabu, in a group of 10 there will be three or four who are using.”

At one of his counselling meetings he tells the group: “If only I had listened to my dad. I used to rebel against my father, always to question what he was saying. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons I became drug dependent.”

Miguel Perez-Rubio is a consultant to the health department and one of the country’s leading experts on illicit drugs.

He says: “I would call it an epidemic, that for example really worries the health department, very much.

“This causes a lot of problems for young people especially, but is also a problem in society because it produces all the other effects of social breakdown.

“There is corruption, it encourages more corruption. It encourages also violence.

“[It is] a very profitable business to be involved in — the making and pushing of drugs, any kind of drugs….

“One of the most depressing things is the growth of shabu use in the poorest areas, in the slums.

“Poverty brings about despair, problems in families, break up of families. So they take recourse in drugs.

“They could get a certain amount of pleasure to do away with real life, which is not a pleasurable type of life. It’s a life full of sacrifices, a life of a tremendous amount of suffering and that brings them out of it.

“To make one kilo of shabu costs about 2,000 pesos and you’re able to sell a gram for three to five or 6,000 pesos. It’s a lot of money, no business would give that.

“What can you do with that amount of money? You can bribe easily, you can just get away with anything.”

The Constitution

The Constitution of the Philippines ordains that judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and such lower courts as may be established by law. [Section 1, Art. VIII, 1987 Constitution).

The Law

Under Philippine laws [Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980 (Batas Pambansa Bilang 129) which took effect on January 18, 1983 and other laws] the Philippine judicial system consists of the following courts:

Lower Courts

I. Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts
Every municipality in the Philippines has its own Municipal Trial Court. It is referred to as such if it covers only one municipality; otherwise, it is called Municipal Circuit Trial Court if it covers two or more municipalities.

II. Metropolitan Trial Courts and Municipal Trial Courts in Cities

Municipal Trial Courts in the towns and cities in the Metropolitan Manila area, as distinguished from the other political subdivisions in the Philippines, are referred to as Metropolitan Trial Courts.

In cities outside Metropolitan Manila, the equivalent of the Municipal Trial Courts are referred to as Municipal Trial Courts in Cities.

III. Regional Trial Courts

Regional Trial Courts were established among the thirteen regions in the Philippines consisting of Regions I to XII and the National Capital Region (NCR). There are as many Regional Trial Courts in each region as the law mandates.

IV. Shari’a Courts

Equivalent to the Regional Trial Courts in rank are the Shari’a District Courts which were established in certain specified provinces in Mindanao where the Muslim Code on Personal Laws is being enforced.

Equivalent to the Municipal Circuit Trial Courts are the Shari’a Circuit Courts which were established in certain municipalities in Mindanao.

There are five Shari’a District Courts and fifty one Shari’a Circuit Courts in existence.

V. Court of Tax Appeals

A special court, the Court of Tax Appeals, composed of a Presiding Judge and two Associate Judges, is vested with the exclusive appellate jurisdiction over appeals from the decisions of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and the Commissioner of Customs on certain specific issues.

VI. Sandiganbayan

A special court, the Sandiganbayan, composed of a Presiding Justice and eight Associate Justices, has exclusive jurisdiction over violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act [Republic Act No. 3019], the Unexplained Wealth Act [Republic Act No. 1379] and other crimes or felonies committed by public officials and employees in relation to their office, including those employees in government-owned or controlled corporations.

VII. Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals, composed of one Presiding Justice and sixty eight Associate Justices is vested with jurisdiction over appeals from the decisions of the Regional Trial Courts and certain quasi-judicial agencies, boards or commissions.

The Highest Court – Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest Court in the Philippines. There is only one Supreme Court composed of one Chief Justice and fourteen Associate Justices. It is the final arbiter of any and all judicial issues. When so deciding, it may sit en banc or in divisions of three, five or seven members.

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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has lauded the five female prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the conviction of Pasig City Shabu “Tiangge” operator Amin Imam Boratong and his wife Sheryl Molera Boratong.

“Congratulations to the DOJ and the prosecutors, dapat headline ito,” the President said in a cellphone conversation with Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera following the guilty verdict rendered by the Pasig Regional Trial Court on the Boratong couple.

Devanadera was commending at that time the five prosecutors, namely, Amor Robles, Marlette Balagtas, Anjanette Ortile, Eden Wakay-Valdez, and Elizabeth Berdal for their perseverance and determination in pursuing the case despite the threats on their lives.

Devanadera acknowledged the vital role of the media, the Philippine National Police AIDSOF, the National Bureau of Investigation and the community for their support and continued vigilance against illegal drugs.

Judge Abraham Borreta of the Pasig Regional Trial Court’s Branch 154 found the Boratong couple guilty beyond reasonable doubt of jointly running the shabu “tiangge” in the Mapayapa Compound on F. Soriano Street, Pasig City. Each of them was sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment for violating Section 6 of Republic Act No. 9165 (Dangerous Drugs Act).

The Court also meted another life imprisonment to Sheryl Boratong for violation of Sec. 11 (possession of dangerous drugs). She was ordered to pay a fine of P1 -million while accused Imam Boratong was meted to pay a fine of P10-million. It also set a hearing on Aug. 20 relative to the confiscation/forfeiture of the properties of the couple covered by the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Meanwhile, Judge Borreta immediately ordered the turn-over of the illegal substance to the Philippine Drugs Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for proper action and disposition and the transfer of the couple to the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City and to the Correctional Institute for Women.(PND)

Sa 87-pahinang desis­yon ni Judge Abraham Borreta ng Pasig City Regio­nal Trial Court, hina­tulan ng habambuhay na pagkabilanggo bukod pa sa pagmumulta ng tig-P1 mil­yon ang mga akusadong sina Rosalino Babao at Ramil Garcia.
Halos tatlong oras ang itinagal ng pagbasa ng desisyon ng korte na bandang alas-singko na kahapon ng hapon ng matapos.

Sa naging hatol, 37 sa mga akusado ang hinatulang makulong hanggang 14 na taon at pinagmulta ng tig-P100,000 dahil sa Section 6 ng Republic Act 9165 o Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act (visiting a drug den).

Anim sa mga akusado ang napatunayang guilty sa kasong possession of illegal drugs at hinatulang makulong ng hanggang 20 taon at pinagmulta ng tig-P400,000.

Tatlo naman ang hina­tulang mabilanggo ng hanggang tatlong taon sa kasong possession of drug paraphernalia at pinagmulta ng tig-P10,000.

May 37 iba pang akusado ang inatasang sumailalim sa drug rehabilitation sa loob ng isang taon makaraang mag-posi­tibo sa paggamit ng ilegal na droga.
Ang kabuuang bilang ng mga hinatulan kahapon ay 63 mga akusado sa shabu tiangge na sinalakay ng mga awtoridad noong 2006.

Target naman ngayon ng manhunt operation ang iba pang kasamahan ng mga naarestong suspek.

Sinalakay ng mga awtoridad ang shabu tiangge sa Mapayapa Compound sa Bgy. Sto. Tomas, Pasig City noong Pebrero 10, 2006.

Kabilang sa mga naaresto sa pagsalakay ang mag-asawang Amin Imam Boratong at Sheryl na umano’y maintainer at may-ari ng shabu tiangge. Kasalukuyan pang nililitis ang kasong isinampa laban sa mag-asawa sa sala ni Judge Borreta.

Four drug users were meted out 20 years imprisonment for engaging in a pot session three years ago in Pasig City.

In a three-page decision, Judge Abraham Borreta, of Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 154, also ordered the accused Erwin Castumbas, Roldan Cruz, Erwin Begonio, and Elpidio Turlao to pay P400,000 each as penalty for their offenses.

The promulgation of the sentences was made in absentia since the four jumped bail while their case was being heard.

“In the light of the evidence adduced by the prosecution which was not controverted, disputed or refuted by the accused in view of their failure to appear at the hearings of the instant case despite notice to them, the court has to hand down a verdict of conviction,” Borreta said.

Court records showed, the four accused were arrested on Feb. 13, 2004 after operatives of the Pasig police received information that a group of men were having a pot session at the corner of Baltazar and Villa Monic Streets, Barangay Palatiw.

Investigation showed Castumbas, Cruz, Begonio and Turlao were caught in the act of sniffing marijuana.

During trial, the four failed to present any evidence in their defense to charges of using prohibited substances.

The prosecution presented as witnesses the policemen who staged the bust leading to the arrest of the suspects.

Last June 28, a shootout occurred during a raid of the Mapayapa compound, the site of the so-called “shabu supermarket” near city hall that was raided on Feb. 10 last year.

“Some syndicates want to revive the drug trade. It was good that some residents were vigilant,” said Chief Supt. Luizo Ticson, Eastern Police District director.

The place has been identified with suspected drug lord Amim Imam Boratong who, along with his mistress Sheryl Morela, were arrested in Makati City November last year and are now detained by the National Bureau of Investigation.

Long perceived as untouchable, the compound, located near a police precinct, was first raided in early 2006 by operatives of Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force based in Camp Crame, following reports that Boratong had earned more than P900 million in the drug trade since 2003.

Boratong and Morela face drug trafficking charges in the sala of Borreta. Gigi Muñoz David

Isinakripisyo

Matapos ang hatol, ililipat kaagad si Boratong sa New Bilibid Prison sa Muntinglupa mula sa kostudiya ng National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Sa Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) naman sa Mandaluyong City dadalhin si Molera.

Sinabi ng abogado ng mag-asawang Boratong na maghahain sila ng motion for reconsideration sa naging desisyon ni Borreta.

Tahimik na umiiyak si Molera nang marinig na ang desisyon ng korte, habang kalmado naman si Boratong.

“Puro imbento, puro gimik,” pahayag ni Boratong matapos na ibaba ang hatol. Iginiit nito na ang kanyang kapatid na si Palo ang tunay na namamahala sa nadiskubreng shabu tiangge.

“Mapagtakpan lang niya yung ginawa niya, sinakripisyo niya ako…sana makarma siya sa ginawa niya sa akin,” idinagdag ni Boratong.

Tagumpay

Ipinagbunyi ni Sotto ang desisyon ni Borreta na malaking tagumpay umano sa kampanya ng pamahalaan laban sa ilegal na droga.

Kabilang ang Pilipinas sa mga bansa na tinukoy sa ulat ng United Nation’s Office on Drug and Crime na ginagamit na major transshipment point ng shabu.

“This [decision] sends a strong message that the three pillars of enforcement prosecution and judiciary are working together to hit the drug peddlers with its full force,” ayon kay Sotto.

“This just proves that in the end justice will prevail,” idinagdag naman ni Dionisio Santiago, pinuno ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Sinabi ni Santiago na “kumpleto” sa elemento ng isang mabigat na kaso ng ilegal na droga ang usapin kay Boratong na may kasamang “pananakot” at “pera.”

“Hindi lahat kaya ng pera e,” ayon kay Santiago kasabay ng pahayag na hindi nasayang ang kanilang pagsisikap sa kaso ni Boratong.

Masaya rin umano ang pamunuan ng NBI sa kinalabasan ng kaso ni Boratong.

“Their conviction is a resounding victory in the fight against illegal trafficking of drugs and we are happy that we are instrumental in making it possible,” ayon kay NBI deputy director for intelligence services Ruel Lasala, pinuno ng Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force-NBI.

Sa hiwalay na ulat ng GMA news 24 Oras, inamin ni Borreta na may mga taong nagtangkang kumausap sa kanya tungkol sa kaso ni Boratong. Ngunit iginiit niya na ang kanyang desisyon ay batay lahat sa ipinakitang ebidensiya at testimonya. – GMANews.TV