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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Tuesday, December 20, 2016
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ILOILO City – The release from detention of two sons of slain suspected drug lord Melvin Odicta Sr. and wife Meriam won’t adversely affect the campaign against illegal drugs, said Chief Superintendent Jose Gentiles, director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
Detained Odicta brothers Michael, 32, and Darryl, 29, scored an initial legal victory against the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 6 following the raid of their residence in Barangay Malipayon, City Proper on Dec. 8. The Regional Trial Court (Branch 33) granted their petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
“Basta sa amin kampanya lang kami. Hulihin ang dapat hulihin basta may basis at may evidence,” said Gentiles.
Atty. Isagani Pilaspilas of the Odicta family said they may cite this court order releasing Michael and Darryl in seeking the dismissal of the charges filed against them and elder brother Melvin Jr., 39.
“We respect due process of law. We could not question the court’s decision but our campaign against illegal drugs goes on,” said Gentiles.
The three brothers were charged by PDEA with maintaining a drug den and conspiracy to trade illegal drugs – acts prohibited by the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Melvin Jr., however, was additionally charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
The release of the two Odicta brothers from PDEA detention had not disheartened the police, said Gentiles.
It, in fact, encouraged them to double their efforts in the antidrug war of the Duterte administration, he stressed.
Citing intelligence information, PDEA Region 6 deputy director Levi Ortiz said Melvin Jr. took over his parents’ illegal drug operation. The son, however, denied this.
The Dec. 8 raid also came under fire from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Iloilo due to the arrest of Odicta family lawyer Marbhen Lumbo.
According to the court, there was no ground for the continued detention of Michael and Darryl at PDEA’s jail facility in Fort San Pedro.
Seized from the Odicta residence were 19 sachets of shabu; P300,000 cash; a .40-caliber pistol with ammunition; a grenade; a shotgun from Odicta residence security guard Elemio Dumalogdog; a .22-caliber revolver; a handheld radio; bank checks; and a joint passbook in the name of Melvin Sr. and wife Meriam.
The Odicta husband and wife were shot dead by unidentified armed men on Aug. 29 after disembarking from a ship at the jetty port in Barangay Caticlan, Malay, Aklan.
PDEA said Melvin Sr. was the drug lord Dragon operating in Western Visayas. But its Dec. 8 raid was criticized by IBP Iloilo.
Atty. Lumbo was “[defending] his client’s rights, liberty and property against unreasonable search and seizure,” stressed the lawyers’ group.
“The enforcement of one law cannot be used to stifle another, especially if the law violated is the Constitution itself,” IBP Iloilo added.
PDEA charged Lumbo with obstruction of justice (violation of Presidential Decree 1829) and violation of Section 6, specifically the last paragraph, of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The paragraph read: “The penalty 12 years and one day to 20 years of imprisonment and a fine ranging from P100,000 to P500,000 shall be imposed upon any person who acts as a ‘protector/coddler’ of any violator of the provisions under this Section.”/PN
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