http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ilo/2003/05/15/news/honeymoon.in.boracay.turns.to.nightmare.html
Thursday, May 15, 2003 Honeymoon in Boracay turns to nightmare By Leo Solinap
IT WAS a sad start for young couple Sepero Sakasawa and Jessie Rose Giron, who were supposed to be married in civil rites Wednesday in Makati City had they not been arrested for drugs on their way to Boracay Island last Sunday.
Sakasawa, 30, and Giron, 25, were found with P5 million worth of illegal drugs, including Ecstasy, Mugadon and shabu.
Last week, the couple met a friend in Rembrant Hotel in Quezon City, who invited them to a free trip to Boracay Island. Now, they are detained at the Aklan Provincial Police Office.
In an exclusive interview, Sakasawa said since he and Giron have never been to Boracay, they immediately accepted the invitation.
"We accepted the invitation because at this time we can't afford to go to Boracay Island and it's a great time before our wedding to see Boracay without expenses," he said.
They left Manila last Saturday boarding a boat with five other people, including their housemaid, Vic-vic Perucho, 21, of Cagayan De Oro City and Sonny Natividad Benito, who Sakasawa suspected owns the bag containing illegal drugs.
After they arrived Sunday in Dalipe, New Washington in Aklan, they took a tourist van which brought them to Caticlan jetty port in Malay town, the jump-off point to Boracay.
During the routine baggage inspection, PO1 Reynaldo Galiche, PO2 Rollie Pondevilla, PO1 Reynante Matillano and two security guards, Richard Bilisando and Alexander Valero, discovered the drugs.
Sakasawa said the bag, which allegedly contained the drugs, was left to them by Benito before they entered the inspection area.
He and his girlfriend were supposed to return to Manila on Tuesday for their civil wedding, he said, and then leave for Dubai Friday.
Sakasawa became emotional when they were brought to the Crime Laboratory of Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) in Iloilo City last for drug tests.
He said Giron, who is now two months pregnant, is his first love.
She is willing to marry him, he said, eventhough he already has three children from three different women.
"She was my childhood sweetheart but we separated when I went to United States. I met several women but I can't afford to marry them," he said.
They have been together for about two months and now live at Cityland Tower, a condominium in Makati City.
Sakasawa, whose grandfather is a Japanese, said he works as a freelance computer programmer while Giron is a Business Administration graduate from Far Eastern University.
He also used to work as a disc jockey in disco bars in Manila.
"If we only knew that we are carrying those drugs, we could not have entered the inspection area. We could have went back to Manila," Sakasawa said.
For the couple, the lesson learned is, "Never carry a baggage that is not yours."
Sakasawa said Giron have been crying every night since their arrest. Instead of having relaxing moments in Boracay Island, he said, they are now having a nightmare.
"We can already see the Island of Boracay; it was just a minutes away. We did not expect this would happen to us," he said.
Sakasawa admitted using Ecstasy and cocaine for the past 10 years but never shabu. Giron also used illegal drugs such as Ecstasy, he said.
That is why they have been so apprehensive of the drug test.
However, both clarified that they have stopped using drugs months before.
Although Sakasawa denied owning the drugs, he knows the price of each item, which range from P500 to P4,000, he said.
Recovered from the three suspects were 1,100 pieces Mugadon tablets; 1,732 pieces Ecstacy tablets; three packs of shabu weighing 96.7 grams; one pack of marijuana weighing 24.7 grams; three packs of suspected cocaine; one vial of suspected cocaine weighing 3.6 grams and four tablets of Diazepom and other drug paraphernalia.
A bottle of Japanese version of Viagra was also found in the suspects' possession.
The three were charged for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Police said they violated section 5 (sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of dangerous drugs); section 11 (possession of dangerous drugs) and section 12 (possession of equipment, instruments, apparatus and other paraphernalia for dangerous drugs).
If found guilty, they can be penalized with either a life imprisonment or death sentence.
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