'Alabang boys' grace House drug probe

MANILA, Philippines - The "Alabang Boys" are here. For the first time, young drug suspects Richard Brodett, Jorge Joseph, and Joseph Tecson appeared before the House panel on dangerous drugs on Thursday morning. Accompanying them was Tecson and Brodett's legal counsel, Felisberto Verano Jr. Also present as of posting time were Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) legal prosecution services head Alvaro Lazaro, PDEA special enforcement services head Major Ferdinand Marcelino, and Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chair Vicente Sotto III, among others. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors are not yet inside the conference room as of posting time. The hearing has yet to begin. Last week, committee chair Roque Ablan Jr. said the drug suspects will be given a chance to air their side on his panel's expected last hearing. The three-man fact-finding panel formed by Malacanang ended its own investigation Wednesday, with the "Alabang Boys" apologizing for the "grief and anguish" the controversy brought their parents. - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV