THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Manila City has acquitted Diane Uy, daughter of convicted drug queen Yu Yuk Lai, of the drug charges filed against her because the case was a product of a “sham” search warrant.
In a 37-page decision issued by the Manila RTC Branch 49 presided by Judge Daniel Villanueva, the court held that agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) merely “planted” the evidence against Uy during the raid on his condominium unit in San Miguel, Manila, by the agency’s operatives, which allegedly resulted to the seizure of illegal drugs worth P17 million.
“Wherefore, in view of all the foregoing it having been found and declared that search warrant No. 5011[17] was invalid for lack of probable cause, and that all alleged contraband seized are inadmissible in evidence, and for lack of merit of the evidence in chief, and on ground of reasonable doubt, the Court hereby acquits the accused of the offense as charged,” the trial court ruled.
During the trial of the case, Judge Villanueva said the Court found “strong compelling evidence” that at least five agents of the PDEA went inside Unit-3D owned by Uy without the accused or any other independent witnesses under the pretext of clearing and securing it; the CCTV cameras were tampered with; no real and thorough search was conducted by the lone searching officer; the PDEA K9 dogs failed to detect narcotic at any time during the search; the chain of custody was broken; and PDEA agent Wenifredo Alagabia Jr. took bribe money from the accused in the amount of P500,000.
The court pointed out that the entry of an alleged “clearing team” of PDEA operatives without the presence of the accused or any media or barangay representative, for an hour to one hour was “highly-irregular and illegal.”