DAVAO CITY (June 21) — North Cotabato provincial prosecutor charged Dr. Samson Molao, president of the Cotabato Foundation College for Science and Technology (CFCST), after finding strong evidence over possession of unlicensed firearms and illegal drugs.
Also facing charges are Anwar Maulana alias Astron; Gerry Miclat and a certain Jojo Gaspar, all employees of the CFCST.
In a resolution penned by prosecutor Bonifacio Estremos, it stated, during the review of the case, the prosecution found enough evidence or probable cause to charge Molao and his staff for violating Section 6, Article II of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, and Section 28 (b) of RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition.
The Estremos resolution which was signed last May 11 but was released to the media this week, stressed “A qualifying circumstance is present in this case, respondent Molao being a government official.”
The resolution stressed “A review of the case reveals sufficient evidence to engender a well-founded belief that the Molao Drug Syndicate has maintained and operated the President’s cottage, which has been searched by virtue of search warrants, as a drug den for the storage, distribution, and selling of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride or otherwise known as ‘shabu’.”
“In fact, there were at least three ‘test buys’ that a certain police officer transacted with the respondents and the surveillance made, afterwards,” the resolution added.
The operatives of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Cotabato Provincial Police Office, armed with search warrant, raided Molao’s quarter inside the compound of CFCST, a state college in Arakan, North Cotabato on January 29, 2018. Molao was out during the 3:00 am raid.
During the raid, PDEA agents recovered from Molao’s quarters 13 firearms, including an M-14 rifle, AK-47 rifle, two caliber .45 pistol, four M-16 rifles with ammunition, one carbine rifle, four shotgun rifles and 4 handheld radios.
Aside from the confiscation of a cache of high-powered firearms, also recovered were several packs of illegal drugs with an estimated weight of 125 grams and a street value of P625,000.
Molao and other co-accused are given 15 days to submit their counter-affidavits.-Editha Z. Caduaya/NewsLine.ph
