A man accused of peddling drugs in Barangay Banago, Bacolod City, was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday.

Judge Edgar Garvilles of the Regional Trial Court of Negros Occidental Branch 47 sentenced Elizalde Aquino Adorio to life imprisonment after finding him guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the sale of dangerous drugs in violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Adorio was also ordered to pay a P500,000 fine,and committed to the national penitentiary for the service of his sentence.

Adorio was accused of selling .01 gram of shabu for P200 to a police poseur-buyer in Barangay Banago on May 21, 2004.

Police Inspector Edfel Balibadlan, who was assigned to the Bantay Illegal Drugs Special Operation Group of the Negros Occidental police office, then headed by Superintendent Armando Tubongbanua, said their unit received a tip in April 2004 from an asset about rampant peddling of shabu in Purok Kawayan, Barangay Banago, Bacolod by Adorio, also known as Zaldy Aquino.

Balibadlan said he and PO2 RuelBagameo were directed to conduct a surveillance operation on the house of the suspect and saw people coming in and out, who, their asset said, were buyers of drugs.

A test buy was conducted on May 16, 2004 by a police asset for a sachet of shabu, which was confirmed by the police crime laboratoryto be methamphetamine hydrochloride, he added.

Armed with a search warrant, Balibadlan and Bagameo on May 21, 2004 again bought a sachet of shabu from Adorio through a door that was slightly ajar at his house,using marked money. When Adorio handed them the shabu they identified themselves as police officers but were unable to enter the house immediately because the door was locked with an iron chain from the inside, Balidbadlan told the court.

This gave Adorio time to escape through the back window of his house so the police officers served the search warrant to his mother instead, the court was told.

During their search of Adorio’s bedroom the police recovered two P100 bills in marked money, a sachet of shabu, three empty cartridges of an M-16 rifle, and seven cartridges of a .22 caliber Magnum revolver in the presence of barangay officials, the court was told.

The police eventually arrested Adorio on Feb. 13, 2007.

Adorio pleaded not guilty, claiming that at the time of the buy bust operation he was harvesting mangoes in Escalante City.

The judge, however, said the alibi of Adorio cannot stand in the face of proof beyond reasonable doubt of his illegal drug sale and possession of prohibited drugs.*CPG

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