By Cynthia Balana, Miko L. Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer; March 04, 2010

MANILA, Philippines—An agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has accused retired Supreme Court Justice Dante Tinga and his son, Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tinga, of influencing a judge into dismissing a drug-pushing charge against their three relatives.

Jeffrey M. Roquero, PDEA intelligence officer II, who posed as the buyer to bust the Tinga kin, wrote Chief Justice Reynato Puno on Feb. 8 seeking the disbarment of Judge Raul Villanueva of the Regional Trial Court Branch 267 of Pasig City (Taguig City station) who handled the case.

Roquero also filed a formal complaint in the Supreme Court on Feb. 17 seeking an investigation of Villanueva for ignoring “the strong and sufficient evidence of the prosecution by the mere demurrer to evidence submitted by the defense.” (A demurrer to evidence is a pleading for the court to order the outright dismissal of charges pending before it due to weak evidence.)

Politically motivated

Retired Justice Tinga Wednesday shrugged off the complaint filed against him and son Freddie, describing it as “politically motivated.”

“The accusation is simply false and utterly unfounded,” the elder Tinga said. “The attempt to include me and my son in the administrative complaint apparently is politically motivated.”

Tinga, who’s seeking the mayoral post his son is currently holding, pointed out that if the accusation had any truth to it, the drug suspects would have not spent at least two years in jail while their case was being heard.

“From what I’ve read in the papers and columns, the case was dismissed on demurrer to evidence that shows the prosecution evidence is weak,” said the former Supreme Court associate justice.

He lamented that “when a Tinga is being accused of something, they always drag our names,” referring to his son Freddie and himself, a three-term representative before being appointed to the high court by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Buy-bust operation

In his letter to Puno and in his complaint, Roquero said he was the poseur-buyer in the case filed by PDEA against Fernando Tinga, Alberto Tinga and Allan Carlos.

The three men were arrested in a buy-bust operation on July 11, 2007 in front of a house in Ususan, Taguig. The house was tagged by “Bitag,” a television anti-crime show, as the ancestral home of the Tinga political clan.

The TV show devoted an episode to the buy-bust operation.

Several other men surnamed Tingas had been arrested by PDEA and the police on drug-related charges, including Joel Tinga and Bernardo Tinga.

Drug syndicate

A PDEA report dated June 22, 2009 identified Joel as “a member of the Tinga drug syndicate.”

PDEA chief Dionisio Santiago told reporters after Joel’s arrest for selling P100,000 worth of “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) that “he (Joel) is a cousin (of Mayor Tinga).”

Bernardo was arrested in a buy-bust operation at his house in Ususan in 2007.

Roquero said that from the testimony of witnesses, the prosecution had satisfied the elements of the crime of illegal sale and possession of drugs.

He said the outcome of the case was “heavily influenced” by the retired justice and the mayor.

Chemistry report

The PDEA agent said Villanueva rendered a verdict without any legal basis considering the testimony of the witnesses and evidence, including a chemistry report, presented during the trial.

“We did our best to have the accused convicted with only ourselves to rely on, but the court had other plans and looked for loopholes. So, they, the three of them, could go scot-free at our expense,” Roquero told Puno.

“I could not discount the possibility of a political favor being offered here,” he added.

Sacrifice wasted

Roquero said Villanueva’s decision was demoralizing for drug law enforcers because it could affect their mind-set in anti-illegal drugs operations.

“Our time, effort and sacrifice in this particular case got wasted,” the PDEA agent said.

Roquero believed that Villanueva succumbed to pressure when he dismissed the charges on Feb. 16, a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which provides that a judge must be vigilant against any attempt to subvert the independence of the judiciary and resist any pressure from whatever source.

Tilting scales of justice

The PDEA agent noted that the very opening statement of Villanueva’s order showed that “he is tilting the scales of justice in favor of the accused, reducing the heinous crimes they committed as merely ‘concocted.’”

Judge like accused’s counsel

“On the contrary, it is Judge Villanueva’s order which is founded on mere speculations. He appeared more as counsel for the accused instead of displaying cold neutrality as the presiding judge,” Roquero said.

Roquero said there was sufficient evidence to convict the Tingas because they yielded not only shabu but also the marked money used by PDEA to prove that they had sold the drug to PDEA agents.

Earlier, the PDEA legal division asked Villanueva to reconsider his decision, saying the court could not have expected prosecutors to oppose the motion for demurrer filed by the Tingas because they (PDEA and the prosecutors) did not even receive a notice of hearing on the motion.

Justice, Mayor Tinga tagged by PDEA agent as drug protectors

An agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has accused retired Supreme Court Justice Dante Tinga and Taguig City Mayor Sigfrido Tinga of influencing a Pasig City judge into dismissing last Feb. 16 the drug-pushing charges that had been filed by PDEA against three of their relatives.

In his complaint dated Feb. 17, 2010, filed before the Office of the Court Administrator, PDEA agent Jeffrey Roquero charged Judge Raul Bautista Villanueva of “gross ignorance of the law, manifest partiality, incompetence and serious misconduct, [and] knowingly rendering unjust judgment.”

Meanwhile, Ilocos Norte Rep. Roque Ablan, Jr., chair of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, issued a warning that the Philippines could become a narco state if the drug menace will be allowed to spiral out of control.

“We must get to the bottom of any and all charges against officials of government being involved in the drug trade lest we become one of those Latin American countries now grappling with the problem of narco-politics,” said Ablan.

Ablan expressed dismay over a US State Department warning that the trade in illegal drugs in the Philippines may even affect the results of the May 2010 elections.

“We cannot allow drug money to be used to elect lawmakers, governors and mayors. On the flipside, we cannot allow any justice, government official or the police and the military to coddle drug syndicates,” said Ablan.

The drug trade in the country was estimated at US$6.4 billion to $8.4 billion annually.