After four years in jail, a Chinese-Filipino, who was arrested by two policemen who are now wanted for the kidnap-slay of barangay captain Eleuterio Salabas, was acquitted of drug charges by a Regional Trial Court judge in Bacolod City yesterday.

William Uy of Brgy. 40, Bacolod City, was cleared of drug peddling and possession charges by RTC Branch 47 Judge Edgar Garvilles, who noted that the prosecution had not proven the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt.

Uy was arrested by a police team led by then Inspector Jonathan Lorilla, chief of the Bacolod police Drug Enforcement Unit, and Senior Inspector Jimmy Fortaleza on Oct. 23, 2003 in Bacolod City.

The court called the testimony by the lone prosecution witness identified as Lorilla as dubious. If at all the arrest had the earmark of illegality, the judge said, noting that it was not positively and convincingly clear that the alleged seized drugs submitted for laboratory examination and presented in court was actually recovered from the accused.

"The court finds that the guilt of (the) accused has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt as measured by the required moral certainty for conviction," Garvilles also said, in ordering Uy's release

. While there has been no strong proof that accused was indeed framed-up, in criminal cases the overriding consideration is not whether the court doubts the innocence of the accused but whether it entertains a reasonable doubt as to his guilt, the judge said.

Considering the shady credibility of the prosecution witness, and the evidence presented by the accused, we rule that the constitutional presumption of his innocence has not been overcome.

"The constitutional guarantee against warrantless arrest and unreasonable searches and seizures cannot be so carelessly disregarded as overzealous police officers are sometimes wont to do. Fealty to the Constitution and the rights it guarantees should be paramount in their minds, otherwise their good intentions will remain as such simply because they have blundered," the judge said.

Uy's co-accused, Eduardo Ng, had been released earlier after Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales ordered the Bacolod City Prosecutor's Office to withdraw the case against him, noting that there was no buy-bust operation when he was arrested, court records said.

Uy, on the other hand, faced trial because he was not included in Gonzales' resolution.

Court records showed that Uy and his friend, Eduardo Ng, were arrested by police officers led by Lorilla in a "buy bust operation" at Jovita Avenue in Brgy. 40 on Oct. 23, 2003.

The six-man team allegedly recovered two plastic sachets of shabu from Uy and three plastic sachets from Ng during the operation, court records said.

Philippine National Police crime laboratory results confirmed that the sachets seized from the two contained shabu, court records added. Uy, however, testified that he was about to board Ng's vehicle that he had borrowed when he was held by Lorilla along with nine other men, court records showed.

Court records also said that the sachets of shabu allegedly confiscated from Uy and Ng were already at the police station where they were brought and detained, even before they arrived and that they were not informed of the reason for their arrest.

Garvilles also noted that Lorilla had not indicated in his testimony when and where he had marked the sachets of shabu they have allegedly seized from Uy and Ng, which, he said, "is tantamount to failure to prove that the dangerous drug presented in court was the very same item seized from the accused." "Prosecution involving illegal drugs depends largely on the credibility of police officers who allegedly conducted the buy-bust operation," Garvilles said.*PP

back to top