Regional Trial Court Branch 47 Judge Edgar Garvilles approved the appeal of an official of the Department of Education Division of Cadiz City, asking the City Prosecutor's Office to conduct preliminary investigation before hearing the illegal drug use charges against him.
City Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group filed illegal use charges against Joshua Santillana, 55, of Fortune Town Subdivision, Bacolod, and assigned as DepEd District supervisor of Cadiz, after his drug test result showed him positive for shabu use, the police said.
However, Roger Reyes, legal counsel of Santillana, in an interview with ABS-CBN, said the urine sample used in the drug test on his client that showed him positive for shabu use, is not sufficient evidence to proceed with the charges against him.
Reyes said there was no confirmatory test conducted to verify the result of the drug test conducted on Santillana, and that not a single gram of prohibited drug or paraphernalia was recovered from his client, who, he claimed, was merely watching television when he was arrested last month.
The CPO is expected to release the result of the preliminary investigation in 30 days.
On May 31, the SOG, Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group, and the Women and Children complaints desk, rescued two male teenagers from the house of Rommel Navarra in Purok Maabi-abihon in Brgy. Banago, where Santillana reportedly brought them to use illegal drugs.
Aside from the illegal drug use charges, Santillana is also facing child abuse cases at the Regional Trial Court Branch 41 of Judge Ray Allan Drilon.
Santillana was released from detention after he posted bail at P40,000 for the illegal drug use charges, while Drilon set his bail at P80,000 each for the two counts of child abuse charges, the police said.
A five-man team was also formed by the Department of Education Region 6 to investigate the case of Santillana, DepEd Regional Director Mildred Garay said.*APN
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