‘Alabang Boys’ drug case has fourth suspect

MANILA, Philippines - Who is Patrick Aranza and what is his connection with the “Alabang Boys” drug case? Romy Javier, security chief of the Ayala-Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City, said Aranza, alias Patrick Al-Khoury, was arrested along with Richard Brodett, Joseph Tecson and Jorge Joseph last September 20, 2008 by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) but was not charged. In his testimony Tuesday before the fact-finding panel probing the alleged bribery of Justice officials handling the “Alabang Boys” case, Javier said Aranza’s name was only mentioned in passing in the December 2, 2008 resolution of State Prosecutor John Resado dismissing the drug charges against Brodett, Tecson, and Joseph. Javier told the panel that Aranza is a resident in the village and was supposedly arrested with Joseph inside the latter's vehicle, citing affidavit submitted by their office to the investigating prosecutors at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Javier also informed the panel of a village incident report made by a security guard, Jose de Pedro, stating that several PDEA agents “boxed and slapped” Joseph and Aranza. PDEA-Special Enforcement Service chief Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino admitted before the panel that there was a fourth suspect named Patrick Al-Khoury arrested during operation, but added that they had to release him for lack of evidence. “Patrick (Al-Khoury) was released on the night of that same day because based on circumstances, there was no evidence against him. Hindi po siya kasama sa [He was not included in the] surveillance and case buildup,” Marcelino said. Also in the hearing, Javier said the PDEA agents did not coordinate with them with regards to the buy-bust operation. He said normally law enforcers would inform them of the conduct of such operations. Javier said there were already PDEA agents inside the village before they were alerted about the incident. Javier’s testimony, however, was contradicted by another security guard, Arvin Balleres, who claimed that there was only “one PDEA agent and one suspect,” leading panel member, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, to question the discrepancies between the two incident reports. Felisberto Verano, counsel for Brodett and Joseph, narrated that when he was corporate secretary of the village association, they used to hire two security agencies. He said this might explain why there were two versions of the incident. Verano also noted that De Pedro was with Bulldog Security Agency while Balleres was employed by Right-8 Security Agency. Aquino also questioned Marcelino for releasing Aranza, saying it is not the job of the agency to judge whether or not there is sufficient evidence against the suspect. “Why release him? It’s not for the PDEA to determine probable cause,” Aquino said. - GMANews.TV