MANILA – The Justice department on Friday said the Valenzuela Regional Trial Court has upheld its earlier decision to dismiss the cases against nine individuals involved in the shipment of P6.4 billion worth of illegal drugs from China last year.
Justice secretary Menardo Guevarra said he was informed that the Valenzuela court Branch 284 has junked the motion for reconsideration they filed on its verdict on the multibillion shabu smuggling.
“I have been informed that our motion for reconsideration was denied. According to the order by the Valenzuela RTC, there were no issues raised that would warrant the reversal of the ruling,” he added.
Guevarra said they will “question the trial court’s ruling before a superior court (Court of Appeals).”
“We maintain that transport of illegal drugs is a distinct offense from illegal importation which ends at the customs area,” the DOJ chief stressed.
Valenzuela RTC Branch 284 Presiding Judge Arthur Melicor on April 23 granted the motion to dismiss the cases against Chinese businessman Chen “Richard Tan” Julong and Customs brokers Mark Taguba and Teejay Marcellana.
Other respondents in the case are alleged middleman Li Guang Feng alias Manny Li; Dong Yi Shen Xi alias Kenneth Dong; import company owner Eirene Mae Tatad; Taiwanese businessmen Chen I-Min; Jhu Ming Jhun; and Chen Rong Huan.
In its decision, the Valenzuela court said the cases were dismissed on the ground of “forum shopping,” or when a case involving the same facts is filed in two separate courts.
Melicor said the prosecution’s move “clearly bears the hallmarks of forum shopping” and “betray their intent to secure favorable judgment from different courts.”
The case stemmed from the Customs discovery of the shabu shipment at the Hong Fei Logistics warehouse in Valenzuela City on May 26, 2017 based on a tip from the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of the China Customs.
The 604-kilogram shabu shipment is one of the biggest hauls of smuggled drugs in the country, and was a subject of a lengthy congressional probe which also led to the resignation of former Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon./PN
