Alleged drug cop, wife claim innocence

A policeman detailed at the National Capital Region Police Office anti-illegal drugs unit and his wife have pleaded not guilty to possession of over 200 grams of shabu.

Police Office 2 Jolly Aliangan, his wife Ronalie and nephew Jeffrey Gutierrez were charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The three were arrested by members of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in a raid last May 25 at their three-storey house in Sta. Mesa.

Aside from shabu, the NBI also seized marijuana, drug paraphernalia, a variety of live ammunition and firearms that included a Bushmaster assault rifle, a .38-caliber revolver and a six-shooter caliber 22.

Authorities also discovered a vault containing P6,911,000.00.

Aliangan and his wife denied the allegations while accusing the NBI of extortion. They claimed that the NBI men demanded that they hand over the P 6.9 million in the safe in exchange for not filing any charges.

“I was asked by the alleged NBI Agents to give them the P6.9-million and they will lift my case and will not implead by wife, Rosalie,” Aliangan said in his affidavit.
Aliangan said the NBI agents forced their way into their house without presenting any search warrant.

Gutierrez said the NBI agents also searched his house, which was adjacent to that of Aliangan, and planted 46.86 grams of shabu and 1.23 grams of marijuana.

In its resolution, the DOJ said the claims of the three accused had no merit.

“It should be emphasized that search of the respondents’ house and the seizure of all the illegal items found therein was not premised on the arrest of any of the respondents,” the resolution stated.

“The thee respondents were all arrested because the search yielded illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia and unlicensed firearms.”

However, the DOJ dismissed the case for obstruction of justice against Ronalie for lack of probable cause.

The NBI alleged that Ronalie was flushing shabu down the toilet.

The DOJ noted that the NBI itself claimed that the bathroom was locked. After the door was forced open, there were crystalline substances on the floor.

“That Ronalie flushed the drug evidence is just an assumption, which cannot become the basis to charge respondent Ronalie,” the DOJ said.

The DOJ also dismissed the illegal possession of firearms case against the three for insufficiency of evidence.

A certification from the Philippine National Police (PNP) said that a 9-mm Jericho pistol with serial number 000228 was registered to Aliangan with a March 31, 2015 expiry date.

“[T]he NBI did not submit any negative proof that all of the respondents were not issued a license to possess firearms,” the DOJ said.

“The NBI should not expect the investigating prosecutor to make sense of the documents they submitted and create assumptions to support the alleged violations which were merely enumerated,” the DOJ added./rga