SAD STORY OF A DRUG POLICE ASSET

     Marlon Aquino, in his late 20s, was just in the area when the cops raided the house of an alleged drug pusher in the wee hours. He was a butcher and was on his way to work at Laoag' slaughter house. They handcuffed him and built or invented a case against him and was thrown in jail. Not a single powder of the drug was found on his person. During the the trial, the cops testified that Marlon flicked the sachet away when they arrested him. How far? said the judge. They estimated the distance, measuring it for all to see in court. He could not have flicked it away that far, said the judge. And Marlon was free--after spending a year at the Laoag City Jail.
    Worst were the cases of two brothers--the cops allegedly "planted" evidence against them-- who were sentenced to life imprisonment (at least 18 years?). They were poor and one of them had only P20 in his wallet when they arrested him, "converting' his twenty pesos into P500 marked money. And the judge--heartless, the wife told me-- sentenced them to Bilibid. They have been languishing in jail for eight years. These cops and this judge wrecked the families of the brothers.