EX-OZAMIZ VICE MAYOR GETS LIFE FOR ILLEGAL DRUGS

OZAMIZ City Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog was sentenced to life imprisonment after she was found guilty of illegal drug possession.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 228 Judge Mitushealla Manzanero-Casiño, in a ruling, said the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that Parojinog is guilty of possession of 677.6796 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

The court also ordered Parojinog to pay a fine of P500,000.

The former Ozamiz City vice mayor was arrested in a raid on their residence in Bgy. San Roque, Ozamiz City on July 30, 2017.

The raid resulted in the killing of members of her family, including her father, former mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., mother Susan, sister Mona, brother Octavio and 12 other people.

The Parojinogs of Ozamiz had been linked to the illegal drug trade and other criminal activities by former President Rodrigo Duterte.

In her defense, Parojinog denied owning the illegal drugs, saying it was planted by the authorities.

But the court said there was no evidence to support her claim.

“She cannot claim that she was arrested solely because she was handcuffed minutes before the searching team arrived at her house,” the court ruling said.

“The court emphasizes that the accused, her son Edray and his friends all testified that they saw the policemen entering the main glass door of the house and going upstairs. However, there was nothing in their testimony and not one of them actually testified that they saw the policemen who entered the main glass door as carrying something suspicious,” the ruling added.

Parojinog was transferred from the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Camp Crame to the Taguig City Jail in August 2021.

The court directed the warden of the Taguig City Jail female dormitory to turn Parojinog over to the Correctional Institute for Women upon receipt of the decision.