Pubdate: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 Source: Manila Times (Philippines) Copyright: 2004, The Manila Times Contact: http://www.manilatimes.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/921 Author: Herbert Osio Jr., Correspondent Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) 4 CHINESE GET LIFE TERMS FOR DRUGS A Pasig Regional Trial Court judge on Friday found four Chinese guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced them to life imprisonment. In a 30-page decision of Judge Leoncio Panolo of Branch 264 of the Pasig RTC, Chua Chi Li, Huang Ho Wei, Joey Lu and Xingfu Wang were found guilty of manufacturing and possessing shabu and fined P1 million each. State Prosecutor Formaran III was satisfied with the court's decision, but told reporters that legislators should enact a law that would penalize persons who establish clandestine laboratories. "[Establishing and maintaining clandestine laboratories] should be considered aggravating circumstances to the case. Under the present law, there is no penalty for establishing such facilities," he said. Members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption said, however, that the judge should have given the four convicted drug traffickers the death penalty. Martin Dino, VACC president and Dante Jimenez, chair, believe there might be something wrong with the judicial system, because this was the fifth trial involving big-time drug traffickers where the convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment. Dino pointed out that a person found guilty of possessing a mere 50 grams of shabu could be sentenced to death under Republic Act 9165, or the Dangerous Drugs Act. The four who were convicted should have been sentenced to death, because they were manufacturers, not mere possessors, of illegal drugs, he added. However, the head of the special police task force on illegal drugs, Edgardo Aglipay, was satisfied and saw nothing wrong with the court's decision. The convicts were arrested on November 6, 2001, when police raided a clandestine shabu laboratory in Pasig City. At least 200 kilograms of shabu were seized from the convicts. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin