A Bacolod resident was sentenced to two counts of life imprisonment for possession and sale of shabu to a policeman.
Regional Trial Court Branch 52 Judge Raymond Joseph Javier on Friday, July 28, found Nestor Besiata Barneso, alias Ban-Ban, guilty beyond reasonable doubt for violation of Sections 5 and 11 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
His co-accused Juliet Bolivar Jagonob, on re-arraignment on August 19, pleaded guilty to the offense filed against her and the trial ensued against Barneso, the judge said.
Barneso sold .253 gram of shabu to a police poseur buyer for P1,000 at Purok Tangigue, Barangay 1, Bacolod, on March 8, 2023, and on his arrest 24.199 grams were recovered from him, court records stated.
He vehemently denied the charges but the judge ruled that his defense cannot prevail over the positive and categorical testimony against him.
“It is of judicial notice that drug pushers sell their wares to any prospective customer, stranger or not, in both public and private places, with no regard for time. They have become increasingly daring and defiant of the law,” the judge said.
In Criminal Case No. 23-57363 Barneso was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the sale of shabu and was sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P500, 000.
In Criminal Case No. 23-57364 he was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt for possession of 24.119 grams of “shabu” and sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment and to pay a fine of P400,000.
The judge ordered the turnover of the seized shabu to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 for destruction.
The Jail Warden of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Male Dormitory in Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City, was also ordered to immediately transfer Barneso to the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City for the service of his sentence.*