VIRAC, Catanduanes—A woman, who tried to commit suicide to prevent policemen from search for drugs in her house two years ago, was convicted for life and ordered to pay a fine of P1 million.
Court records showed two other personalities involving drugs on separate incidents were also convicted separately to life imprisonment with fines.
Regional Trial Court Branch 43 Judge Lelu Contreras convicted Cynthia Samonte Geromo, 58, called the “shabu queen of Catanduanes” after she was found with 100 grams of shabu sachets inserted in DVD cases and other belongings inside her home during a search conducted by the Virac police on February 23, 2015.
Also found in her house were more than P100,000 in cash, bank deposit slips, withdrawal slips and automated teller machine cards from the Land Bank of the Philippines, BDO, Philippine National Bank and Development Bank of the Philippines.
A small island province of 11 towns, Catanduanes hogged newspaper headlines after the Duterte administration launched its war on drugs and uncovered the biggest shabu laboratory on November 26, 2016, in Barangay Palta, 3 kilometers from here.
Court records showed that Geromo’s son, Christian Modrigo from her first husband, was also found guilty of illegal possession of shabu. He was sentenced from 10 years to 14 years in prison in 2008, but went missing before the court scheduled promulgation.
Police records showed Geromo was maintaining a small kiosk at the second floor of the Virac Center Mall, selling beads and pouches and pirated DVDs. In addition, she was also tending a barbecue stand in front her home attended by her daughter.
As Geromo arrived home, waiting policemen presented her with a search warrant for shabu, but she reportedly told one of the police officers she would give them everything, as long as they did not push through with the search.
As the police began the search, Geromo allegedly became hysterical, banged her head near the window, pulled a tie wire and tried to slash her wrist, screaming “better dead than for the police to confiscate the items [shabu].”
The two other personalities convicted separately for illegal possession of drugs were Armando Chua Jr. of Timban, San Andres town and Larry Sorera of Danicop, Virac.