QC bus terminal supervisor caught selling ‘shabu’

MANILA, Philippines—The Quezon City police on Friday arrested a longtime supervisor and former labor union leader of a bus company for using and selling illegal drugs at the terminal where he worked.

Noel Fallorina, 50, a supervisor of JAC Liner terminal at the corner of Edsa and Mapagmahal Street in Barangay Pinyahan, was caught red-handed by antinarcotics agents as he sold a sachet of “shabu” worth P1,000 to a poseur buyer.

In a sting operation conducted around 3:30 p.m., the Quezon City Police District Anti-Illegal Drugs (QCPD-DAID) group also found seven more sachets of shabu in Fallorina’s possession.

In an interview, Senior Insp. Robert Razon, QCPD-DAID head, said Fallorina had been working at the terminal for the last 25 years. Earlier, he served as president of the JAC Liner drivers and conductors union, the official added.

Fallorina had built a shanty within the terminal serving as his “barracks,” where the undercover agent met him for Friday’s drug transaction, Razon said.

Quoting an “informant” working at the terminal, Razon said the arrested suspect had sold shabu to JAC drivers and conductors, aside from being a user himself.

Razon credited Fallorina’s arrest to a memorandum of agreement signed four months ago between the QCPD and the owners and managers of the Quezon City-based bus companies.

“We asked them to report to us if they suspect anyone (of being involved in illegal drug trade) at their terminals. After all, drug use among their drivers can lead to road accidents,” he said.