La Union Shabu Lab Article

WANTED PNP COLONEL, YIELDS OVER MULTI-TRILLON SHABU LAB SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union- A police superintendent ordered arrested by a Regional Trial Court judge after he was implicated in a multi-billion peso drug laboratory case, surrendered Monday to his superior. Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan, Region 1 police director bared this saying Supt. Dionisio Borromeo, former chief of police of Dagupan City, said Borromeo had already yielded to his superiors in Camp Crame Sunday. Gatan said the suspect had asked that he be detained in Camp Crame while his case is being heard from the court here. The warrant of arrest signed by Judge Mary R. Molina recommended no bail. Borromeo is now under police custody and is presently detained at the PNP Custodial Center, Camp Crame. However the warrant of arrest of a certain Joselito Artuz also known as “George Cordero”, the person believed to be the financier of the shabu lab is till being hunted down as his warrant is in effect. Borromeo was tagged protector of the Naguilian drug laboratory. He was identified and implicated by shabu lab caretaker Dante Palaganas and was relieved along with six other police officers who were found to have committed administrative lapses and grave misconduct. The drug laboratory, raided last July 09, 2008 at Barangay Bimmotobot Naguilian La Union yielded 27 million worth of raw chemicals & equipment and was estimated to produce hundreds of million worth of illegal drugs if the raw product ephedrine was present. The arrest of Borromeo, a recipient of various awards and medals during his stint, came after RTC branch 33 Judge Rose Marie Alim, has issued his arrest after he was being tagged as protector of the biggest ever drug shabu laboratory busted in Naguillan town in the province. Also ordered arrested by the court was Joselito Artuz, the alleged financier of the shabu laboratory who is now being hunted by the police. “We will get Artuz at all cost,” vowed Gatan. In a 27-page resolution, Alim affirmed findings of the prosecutor’s panel here which recommended Borromeo’s indictment in court. The prosecution panel was composed of Danilo Bumacod, Gaudencio Valdez and Manuel Dulnuan.

Gatan said that the court gave merit to the findings of the “Task Force Bimmotobot,” which he headed to investigate the shabu laboratory. Earlier, a total of 52 policemen, 17 of whom are commissioned police officers, had been relieved of their posts in connection with the shocking discovery of the multi-trillion shabu laboratory in barangay Bimmutubot, Naguilian town, last July 9. A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, Borromeo and et al were charged before the Prosecutor’s office here last July 31. Six Chinese men were also charged. The arrest of Borromeo came in the wake of revelation by Dante Palaganas, a caretaker of the said shabu lab who tagged Borromeo as one of the police protectors of the laboratory. Borromeo, however, denied the charges. The shabu lab was earlier used as front for piggery until policemen from the province headed by Sr. Supt. Noli Talino discovered it in a surprised raid that shocked the entire police and community. The Congressional Oversight Committee in Congress on Dangerous Drugs had inspected the alleged shabu laboratory the other day in line with House investigation being sought by Rep. Tomas Dumpit, Jr. whose district the laboratory was discovered. – With a report from Mar T. Supnad -Northern Philippine times

Palace to review dismissal of case vs shabu lab financier MARK D. MERUEÑAS, GMANews.TV 06/17/2009 | 06:34 PM | | More MANILA, Philippines - The dismissed drug case against a suspected shabu laboratory financier in La Union has already been elevated to Malacañang for review, chief presidential legal counsel Raul Gonzalez said Wednesday. Gonzalez made this assurance after the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) decried the former Justice secretary’s supposed “midnight order" to withdraw the criminal complaint against Joselito Artuz. “The Palace will conduct a final review on the case but it can still go to court. If the decision [of Malacañang] is upheld by the Court of Appeals, only then can it be final," Gonzalez told GMANews.TV.

“The case is still pending…," said Gonzalez, who signed the resolution days before he vacated his seat at the DOJ. The post has since been occupied by concurrent Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera, who said that she would await the results of the review of the Office of the President on the La Union drug case before taking a second look at it. As prescribed by Presidential Executive Order 253, all drug cases dismissed in court since January 29 should be forwarded to the Office of the President for further review. EO 253 was issued after President Arroyo declared herself as the country’s anti-drug czar. Arroyo took up the role after learning that a number of Justice prosecutors had recommended the dismissal of the drug case against three scions of wealthy families in Alabang and Quezon City. The Palace reviewed the case of the now infamous “Alabang Boys" and ultimately ordered the filing of charges against the drug suspects, overturning the DOJ resolution dismissing the case. If as chief presidential legal adviser he gets tapped to take part in the review of the drug case, Gonzalez assured, "I will inhibit if it goes to me." La Union case Artuz, also known as George Cordero, was arrested along with several Chinese nationals in a raid on an illegal drug laboratory in Barangay Bimmotbot in Naguilian, La Union on July 9, 2008. Artuz was charged with conspiring in the manufacture of dangerous drugs as defined under Article II of the Comprehensive Dangerous Act of 2002. According to Gonzalez, the case had previously been dismissed. But Bishop Artemio Rillera led a campaign for a reinvestigation of the case. The reinvestigation led to the implication of 44 policemen. The Office of the La Union Provincial Prosecutor later recommended the filing of charges against Artuz, alleged drug protector Superintendent Dionicio Borromeo and a Chinese national. Also, the provincial prosecutor ordered the dismissal of cases against other suspects, namely PO3 Joey Abang, PO1 Rodolfo Damian, PO2 Walter Banan, and caretaker Eusebio Tangalin. Last June 2, Artuz filed a petition for review after a witness recanted his statement. On the same day, Gonzalez issued a resolution no. IS 06-615-LU-BG directing the provincial prosecutor to withdraw the information filed against Artuz. The next day, Gonzalez sent the case to Malacañang. “The witness recanted his [statements]. Because of the recantation I allowed the dropping of the case against Cordero [Artuz]," Gonzalez said. Gonzalez said he found nothing wrong with PDEA’s plan to file a motion for reconsideration

against the dismissal of Artuz’s case. “The motion might be filed before the DOJ, which in turn can just forward it to the Palace too." - GMANews.TV