‘Government’s case vs. smugglers of P11-B shabu stands, falls on Guban’- Gordon
The government’s case against those liable for the smuggling of P11 billion worth of shabu in Cavite will stand
and fall on former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban, Senator Richard Gordon said Wednesday.
Gordon made the position after Guban testified in the Gordon-led Senate blue ribbon panel that it was ex-police Senior
Superintendent Eduardo Acierto who alerted him of an incoming shipment that contained shabu and thus, helped the Customs
bureau in seizing P2.4 billion worth of shabu stored in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port last August 7.
Guban also said it only at this moment that he realized that the magnetic lifters in Manila were identical to the shipment sent
to Cavite that Acierto also asked him to facilitate the entry via a consignee identified as SMYD Trading.
Guban’s statement was a turnaround of his previous statement that he and Acierto knowingly worked on the entry of the P11 billion shabu.
“If there is no Guban, there is no case. It’s all circumstantial. Guban attempted to shield the consignee [of the lifters containing
shabu] who was assigned there by Acierto,” Gordon said in an ANC interview.
“Guban was supposed to be just an agent, but he goes to Hong Kong 11 times a year and he has said he is fixing things in Customs for Acierto,” Gordon added.
Admission to the WPP
Guban has already accepted under the government’s Witness Protection Program administered by the Department of Justice.
His admission to the WPP, however, only came after he detained in the Senate for contempt since he refused to
name his “handler” during an earlier Senate blue ribbon panel inquiry.
Gordon then said that Guban decided to be a witness for the government to protect his family.
“At the point when Guban began discussing Acierto, his girl came to me crying. I at that point said to him (Guban), ‘Ikaw ang maiipit diyan. Umiiyak na ang anak mo. Mukhang mabait naman ang anak mo,'” Gordon said.
“‘What’s more, sabi mo delikado ang buhay mo. Whenever, you can be wiped out. So it is better that you pick a side.’ That’s the time he stated, ‘I will be for the administration.’ That’s the time I said I can utilize him [as observer for the government],” Gordon included.
The P11 billion worth of shabu pirated in Cavite said to have contained in attractive lifters which discovered void last August 8 by agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, multi day after P2.4 billion worth of shabu put away in attractive lifters seized at the Manila International Container Port.
From that point forward, President Rodrigo Duterte has supplanted previous Customs Isidro Lapeña with previous Marina director Rey Guerrero.
Guerrero begins his residency as Customs Chief on Wednesday, October 31.
