Drug conviction would have made bishop very happy

RILLERA PHOTO FROM BISHOP RILLERA’S FACEBOOK PAGE

DAGUPAN CITY—If there was one person who could have rejoiced over the conviction of Senior Superintendent Dionicio Borromeo, the former police chief of this city, for protecting the operations of a shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) laboratory in Naguilian, La Union, it would be the late San Fernando City Bishop Artemio Rillera.

Rillera was a relentless antidrug campaigner, organizing protests and rallying residents to fight the illegal drugs menace. He issued several pastoral letters urging students and residents to avoid the vice and educating them on its ill effects.

During hearings on Borromeo’s case, Rillera coordinated rallies in front of the regional trial court in Bauang town to press for conviction.

But Rillera did not live long enough to see Borromeo’s conviction on Wednesday. He died in November 2011, more than three years after the shabu  laboratory was discovered in Naguilian on July 9, 2008.

“[Rillera] was actively involved in the case because talks were rife that Borromeo would be acquitted. He was despondent when the criminal case against Borromeo and three other policemen was dismissed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in November 2008,” a resident said.

The DOJ decision, however, was reversed by a local court in February 2009, paving the way for the trial of Borromeo and the other accused.

On Wednesday, Judge Ferdinand Fe of   the Bauang Regional Trial Court Branch 67 found Borromeo guilty.

Senior Supt. Ramon Rafael, La Union police chief, said Borromeo, who is out on bail, did not appear in court.

Borromeo was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined P10 million. One of his coaccused, SPO1 Joey Abang, was sentenced to 12 years to 20 years in prison and was fined P500,000.

Borromeo, now assistant police chief for administration of Cavite, was found guilty of protecting the drug lab which was discovered in a forested area in Barangay (village) Binmotobot in Naguilian.

Dante Palaganas, the 11-hectare property’s caretaker, identified Borromeo as protector of the laboratory’s operations.

The lab, which police said was built in 2007, could produce at least 180,000 kilograms of shabu.

Senior Supt. Ramon Purugganan, who was La Union police chief at the peak of Rillera’s antidrug rallies, said: “I don’t know if [Rillera] would be happy. But I know he really fought against illegal drugs.”

“As a church leader, it was his responsibility to draw people away from vices,” Purugganan told the Inquirer by phone.

Borromeo is now in the custody of  Cavite police.

Senior Supt. Alexander Rafael, Cavite police chief, said Borromeo, on leave since Monday, called him Wednesday when the court decision came out. “He told me, ‘sir, I will turn myself in,’” Rafael said in a phone interview yesterday.

Asked if an arrest was made, Rafael said, “[Borromeo] is now in our custody.”

Asked if he was planning to appeal the conviction, Borromeo said in a text message that he was “still praying for it.” With a report from Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon