Talisay City Councilor Raul Cabañero stepped out of jail past 10 a.m. yesterday after posting bail on charges of illegal gambling and refusing to help law enforcers in a drug raid.
Cabañero, barangay captain of Bulacao, Talisay City, still missed the regular session of the City Council.
Councilor Richard Francis “Choy” Aznar, majority floor leader, said colleagues still have to decide how to address Cabañero’s case.
“We can assure that we could give him the moral support from the Alayon family,” Aznar added.
Cabañero drew the ire of the NBI after he refused to stand as witness in the inventory of shabu packs confiscated in a raid in his neighborhood last Saturday.
NBI agents, who were earlier told the barangay captain was busy, found Cabañero playing mah-jong at a sari-sari store near the barangay hall.
Cabañero refused to give media interviews.
His lawyer Julius Ceasar Entise earlier said the case was the result of a “miscommunicaiton” with the NBI.
Cabañero paid a total of P16,000 bail for his temporary liberty – P12,000 for obstruction of justice, P3,000 for violation of Article 233 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) (refusal of assistance to persons in authority) and P1,000 for illegal gambling.
Judge Mario Manayon of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) in Talisay City issued the release order for Cabañero.
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