Cop tagged in La Union shabu lab surrenders after getting life term

NAGUILLAN, La Union – A police official tagged as protector of a shabu laboratory busted by authorities in July 2008 here in Barangay Bimmotobot, was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of P10 million has surrendered to his superior in Cavite Wednesday afternoon

Supt. Dionicio Borromeo gave himself up after being  found “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of protecting the operation of the shabu lab, in a decision handed down yesterday by Judge Ferdinand Fe of the Regional Trial Court Branch 33 in nearby La Union town..

Borromeo, deputy director for administration of Cavite police, now under custody of provincial police, will be turned over to the La Union court which convicted him.

Chief Supt. Benito Estipona, Calabarzon police director, said Borromeo surrendered to his immediate superior  Cavite police chief Supt. Alexander Rafael around 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Cavite police told Estipona it got a copy of the arrest warrant against Borromeo through fax Thursday morning and that Borromoe presented a doctor’s certificate that he was really sick when he went on leave last Monday.

PNP spokesman Chief Supt. GenerosoCerbo Jr. said Boroomeo was ordered dismissed from the service after he was sentenced by the court. 

Borromeo was implicated by Dante Tomas Palaganas, the arrested caretaker of the illegal drug facility who turned state witness.

Palaganas is now under the custody of the Witness Protection Program of the Department of Justice.

Borromeo, former police chief of Dagupan City, was released from the La Union provincial jail in February 2011 after posting P1-million bail.

Aside from Borromeo, also sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in jail and ordered to pay a P500,000 fine was SPO1 Joey Abang, who served as Borromeo’s bodyguard and handler of Palaganas.

Prosecutors Danilo Bumacod, Gaudencio Valdez Jr. and Manuel Dulnuan were elated with the decision because they had been working in the case for almost five years.

“The conviction of Col. Borromeo is a vindication to all stakeholders of La Union who have been very supportive to the prosecution. Definitive justice has finally had its day and we are not all that hopeless after all. The honorable Judge Fe made it happen,” Bumacod said.

Meanwhile, Valdez said Borromeo could be committed to the New Bilibid Prison,” because his bail was now cancelled.

Borromeo was not present during the promulgation, but one of his counsels was present.

Abang was handcuffed and was taken into custody by personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology for his transfer to the NBP.

During the investigation, prosecutors found probable cause to indict Borromeo, Joselito Artuz, the shabu lab’s alleged financier; and several unnamed Chinese nationals who served as chemists in the shabu lab.

Artuz and the Chinese men are still at large.

Documents submitted by the prosecutors showed that Borromeo and Artuz had been in constant communication with Palaganas, starting from the time the police officer and the caretaker began looking for a site for the shabu lab until July 9, 2008 when the illegal facility was raided.

Authorities said shabu worth about P1 billion was manufactured in the lab in its more than one year of operation.

Investigation showed the group behind the shabu lab used the piggery business as front for their illegal activity.