Acquitted and free

The nightmare for the Delos Reyes family is finally over. Sports event organizer Adi delos Reyes’ son Andrew Joshua has finally been acquitted of trumped-up drug possession charges stemming from a botched police raid in January of 2020. Now, the family can rebuild their only child’s future.

The 6’3” Andrew –then 19 years old – played basketball in an adjacent village to blow off some steam. (He had had some training with Samboy Lim.) Andrew then decided to spend the night playing video games at a friend’s house a couple of blocks away. Police suddenly raided the house, looking for drugs and the home owner, who wasn’t even there. They then searched the village and finally apprehended their target. Disappointed at finding no contraband, they arbitrarily arrested everyone back at the house, including Andrew, and brought them to San Mateo Jail. To the horror of Adi and his family, his son was charged with possession of half a kilo of marijuana. With no basis, the cops said that the teens conducted a transaction at the basketball court, which ironically had no lights and is pitch black at night. It was also inconceivable, since Andrew comes from a medical and sports family, and dreamed of playing professional basketball. Adi was once the best salesman of Rubberworld Philippines, Adidas and Accel, and organized many sporting events, including the first NBA 3-on-3 tournament in Southeast Asia in 2011.

San Mateo jail has a capacity of about 200, but holds more then 700 accused. Andrew was cramped and hot and sweaty, and out in with hardened repeat offenders. He lost weight and was constantly under a great deal of stress. He celebrated his 20th birthday wrongfully imprisoned, and had absolutely no physical contact with friends or family. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, repeatedly pushing back the hearings by torturous months, stranding Andrew in jail. Worse, the jail itself stood near the intersection of two bodies of water, and was prone to flooding. In one instance, it was only the foresight of Warden Joey Doguiles that saved the lives of the inmates. If Doguiles hadn’t anticipated danger and evacuated the incarcerated to higher ground nearby, many of them would have drowned. When the floodwaters receded, all the inmates’ and BJMP personnel’s belongings were irreparably buried in inches of thick mud. It could have been them. Imagine a parent’s horror.

At the hearings, the police could not justify the arrest, or provide any evidence that Andrew had done anything wrong. It was a farce, as the family’s lawyer eviscerated prosecution witnesses. Still, the repeated postponements were an almost unbearable burden. Even if he was released, there was still the matter of clearing Andrew’s name. The charges would follow his growing career and taint his reputation. The family filed a demurrer to evidence, meaning that the proof presented was insufficient to substantiate any violation of law. The cops just wanted to have a case, at any cost.

Finally, on May 18, more than three years after he was wrongfully arrested, presiding Judge Maribeth Rodriguez-Manahan cleared Andrew of charges of possessing and selling prohibited drugs, declaring additionally that there were violations of protocol in the investigation. Andrew was pronounced innocent, and not involved in any drug transaction that evening.

It would be easy to declare this a victory, but over what? Andrew had done nothing wrong. The crooked officers will never be able to erase all of his terrible memories of confinement, or give him back 40 months of his life. For their own peace of mind, the Delos Reyes family has no choice but to look forward and find their peace in knowing that justice was somehow served. All else that remains is for the abusive cops to get their punishment, hopefully with the same impunity they showed an innocent teenager.