MANILA, Philippines — Two buy-bust operations by officers of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Sept. 20, 2008, led to the arrest of the “Alabang Boys.”

Undercover agents led by Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino arrested Richard Brodett, 25, and Jorge Joseph, 22, in Ayala Alabang Village subdivision in Muntinlupa City, after the “sale” of P45,000 worth of illegal drugs.

Joseph Tecson, 23, was nabbed in a follow-up operation at the south gate of the Araneta Center in Quezon City.

Some 60 Ecstasy tablets, packets of marijuana and sachets of cocaine were found on the trio.

Nine days later, a preliminary investigation was conducted.

Multimillion pesos

On Oct. 17, the PDEA disclosed a purported P20-million offer for the release of one of the Alabang Boys.

PDEA spokesperson Derrick Carreon also said its agents had been receiving death threats through text messages.

On Dec. 2, the Department of Justice dismissed the case for purported lack of probable cause.

A few days later, Carreon said the PDEA had received information that “P50 million changed hands” for the release of the Alabang Boys who, however, remained in police custody.

On Dec. 29, Marcelino said there were three other bribery attempts in connection with the case.

He said the first was made on the day of the arrest, with P3 million directly offered to him by an emissary related to Tecson; the second was relayed through his “mistah” (classmate) at the Philippine Military Academy; and the third was made by someone he knew and who claimed to be working for Tecson’s release.

‘3M pizza’

Marcelino said that on Dec. 19, Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor phoned him and asked why Tecson et al. had yet to be released.

He said he reminded Blancaflor of the justice secretary’s automatic review of drug-related resolutions.

Blancaflor said his phone call was “public assistance” and that he was just doing his job.

He said that on Jan. 4, 2009, Brodett’s uncle, Philip Brodett, called his office and asked why the three suspects were still detained.

The next day, Felisberto Verano Jr., counsel of Brodett and Tecson, said that hours before the inquest proceedings, one of the two agents guarding his clients suggested that they treat their captors to “3M pizza.”

Verano said “3M pizza” could have meant “P3 million” in exchange for dropping the charges against his clients.

He accused the PDEA of fabricating the P50-million bribery story and called for the dissolution of the agency.

He said the Alabang Boys were “victims,” and that they had been framed and subjected to excessive force and illegal arrest.

‘It’s dangerous’

On Jan. 6, at the inquiry of the House committee on dangerous drugs, John Resado, the investigating prosecutor of the case and author of the resolution dropping the drug charges against Brodett, Joseph and Tecson, said he did not believe that the PDEA had actually conducted a buy-bust operation.

PDEA lawyer Alvaro Lazaro countered by disclosing a phone conversation with Resado. He said he asked Resado about the “sudden turnaround in the case,” and the latter told him not to mention it on the phone and that it’s “dangerous because Chief Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño signed [the resolution].”

Resado denied making the statement.

On Jan. 7, Brodett’s uncle Dave Brodett and his son Anthony testified before the committee, saying Brodett was a pusher and that even his mother, Myra, used drugs.

Myra Brodett denied this the next day, adding that she and her husband, Butch, and the other Brodett couple had been feuding over money for more than 10 years.

Resado’s account

On Jan. 21, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez and Director Nestor Mantaring of the National Bureau of Investigation received an anonymous letter saying that a total of P1.6 million was deposited into the bank account of Resado and his wife on the day that the case against the Alabang Boys was dismissed. Gonzalez immediately ordered an inquiry.

Resado said he had deposited P800,000 (not P1.6 million) in a joint bank account with his wife, and that the deposit represented the “liquidation” of their food and lending business in a demolished wet market in Tarlac province, north of Manila.

He said PDEA lawyer Lazaro had tried to bribe him to speed up the dismissal of the case.

A freeze order on Resado’s bank accounts is in effect until April 17.