A man was found guilty for illegal possession of illegal drugs, while a woman was acquitted, by the Regional Trial Court, Friday, at the Hall of Justice, in Barangay Piapi, Dumaguete City.

Found guilty of possessing 0.35 grams of shabu was Joseph Abimelech Lacsican, while Marilou Ramirez was cleared of the same charges in another case, court records showed.

Presiding Judge Rafael Crescencio Tan, Jr. of RTC Branch 30 found Lacsican guilty of violating Section 11, Article II of Republic Act. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. He was ordered to pay a fine of P400,000, court records revealed.

The court, however, acquitted Lacsican for possession of equipment, instrument, apparatus and other drug paraphernalia punishable under Section 12, Art. II, or RA. 9165, for insufficiency of evidence. Court records disclosed that on May 23, 2005, the city police received a telephone call from a citizen that Melek Lacsican was peddling shabu at Upper Luke Wright, Barangay 2, in Dumaguete City.

When they were at a distance of about one meter from the place, the policemen saw Lacsican showing an open blue rectangular plastic box containing four transparent sachets of shabu to his customers.

The police immediately approached him, introduced themselves as policemen and placed him under arrest. Confiscated from him was the plastic box.

A body search conducted on Lacsican led to the recovery of nine empty transparent sachets, one pair of scissors and tin foil from his pocket.

His "customers" were allowed to go because nothing was found on them, records added.

Marilou Ramirez was acquitted on reasonable doubt.

The police had arrested Ramirez at the Looc Public Market, located near the Looc chapel, a known drug-infested area. She was caught holding a transparent plastic pack in her right hand and appeared to be selling something to an unidentified male person.

When the police approached them, the unidentified male person immediately ran away but Ramirez was caught. She was then allegedly forced to sign something and brought to a detention cell and was not able to go home anymore because she had been charged with possession of dangerous drugs. She was committed to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Bajumpandan, Dumaguete City.

In acquitting her, the court, after reviewing all evidences presented, said, "It cannot rest with moral certainty that the accused is guilty of the crime charged. The denial of the accused that she was in possession of a plastic pack containing three transparent sachets of shabu on May 7, 2004 may be weak, but the evidence of the prosecution is clearly weaker."

The court further said that guilt must be proven by proof as clear as daylight, by evidence so airtight that no room is left for any reasonable doubt.*RG

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