Decorated cop cries harassment from PDEA

Police Officer 3 Zaldy L. Asama, a decorated police officer, has cried harassment over charges filed against him by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for allegedly dropping drug cases against suspected pushers. Asama questioned the basis for the case filed by Quezon City Assistant Prosecutor Arleen T. Tagaban last October 10, accusing him and three other police officers of intentionally failing to appear at a hearing for a pending drug case. He said that Peter Tyrone Chan, chief of the PDEA legal affairs and assistance division, failed to appear twice at preliminary investigation into the case. This fact was admitted by Tagaban in her resolution recommending indictment, Asama said. Asama’s co-accused are PO2 Reynaldo Labon, PO1 Estellito Mortega and PO2 Rene Saul. All three were members of his former team at the Central Police District-Fairview Police Station 5, which made a series of arrests in a span of almost two years resulting in the filing of hundreds of drug-related cases. In 2003, their area of operation was cited by the PNP as the only drug-free zone in Metro Manila. In April of the same year, both Asama and Labon received commendations for their involvement in neutralizing the Abel Buluran Group, which became notorious for armed robbery and drug trafficking activities. A month later, the two again received commendations as “honest cops," along with several other CPD-PS 5 officers, for recovering a bag containing cash amounting to P329,500 at the Commonwealth Market, Quezon City. The policemen turned over the bagful of money intact even as no one came forward to lay claim to the amount. On June 5, 2003, the late senator Robert Barbers awarded the group medals and recommended them for promotion to the next rank. Asama and Labon never got the promotion because, suddenly, their team was disbanded and both were re-assigned to Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City. “We filed over 100 cases because of our anti-illegal drug operations. There must be over 300 individuals we brought to court, some are big fish, most were small. We caused trouble to a lot of people," Asama said. The problem started with their reassignment because the cases were lodged in Quezon City courts, about two-hours drive from Bicutan. “If there were court summons, we complied. We were in court most days because we were the principal witnesses as arresting officers," he said. But many subpoenas and court notices got lost because these were not forwarded to the policemen’s new postings. Eventually some of the cases they filed were dismissed by courts for lack of evidence. News reports quoting the PDEA accused Asama’s group of coddling drug pushers and accepting payola from drug syndicates to “take a dive" on pending drug cases. The accusations stuck and several members of Asama’s team were dismissed from police service. They challenged their dismissal from their jobs while they also tried to revive some of the dismissed drug cases. “We lost our jobs so we didn’t have money. But we went into debts to get the cases revived. The court blamed us for failure to appear. How can we go to court when we did not even know there was a hearing in the first place?" Asama said. Within a year, Asama’s team members succeeded in getting their dismissal reversed and, one by one, they rejoined active duty. After 18 months, he alone remained jobless. Worse, PDEA filed several criminal cases against him. He also started regularly receiving death threats. “Word got around that I was no longer with the PNP so people who got hurt by work knew I [would be vulnerable]. During Father’s Day, I had to sit several tables away from my wife and children when we ate at a burger restaurant because if something bad happens to me, they will have a chance to get away," he said. Last November, after fighting for more than two years, Asama won his fight and was reinstated. The National Police Commission ordered that he be paid retroactive wages. But his ordeal did not end. A week after his reinstatement, he received a notice from QC-RTC branch 79 that he has been criminally indicted by Tagaban for failing to testify. Tagaban recommended that bail for the accused policemen be set at P200,000 each. “This case is pure harassment. I have a certification from [lawyer] Noli de Pedro, clerk of court of RTC branch 82, that I attended the hearing last October 2 and Tagaban filed the information against us on October 10. What was her basis for the case?" Asama said. De Pedro again issued a second certification dated November 21, 2007 that the case alleged by Tagaban to have been “dismissed" have been revived back in November 10, 2005 and is already set for reception of evidence on February 27, 2008. Asama has asked the court that he be placed under the custody of his commanding officer in Camp Bagong Diwa because he cannot raise the money to post bail. He has yet to receive a centavo of wages withheld from him in the past two years. - GMANews.TV