HK court to hand down Rep. Singson sentence Thursday

A Hong Kong court is set to hand down on Thursday the jail term for Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson, following his conviction for drug trafficking. The longest jail term that Singson may be meted is three and a half year, after pleading guilty to drug trafficking, according to a news report by Steve Dailisan on GMA News' "24 Oras Weekend".
More than six grams of cocaine was recovered from Singson in July last year at the Chep Lap Kok International Airport. After he entered a not-guilty plea, Singson's sentence may be reduced by as much as a year and a few months. The 40 days he spent in jail, before he posted a HK$2-million bail, will also be deducted from his final jail sentence. Singson's sentence, according to the same report, may further be reduced depending on the mitigating factors that the court is supposed to hear before Thursday. "I'm willing to pay the price for it, except the fact that they will sentence me like any other trafficker who would traffick for commercial purposes," Singson said in the newscast. "I think I made it clear that I don't have anything to gain by doing that," he added. Singson was not immediately sent to jail, and the lawmaker assured the Hong Kong court he was not a flight risk. "Even though I've gotten bail, I did not waste my time. I enrolled myself in a rehabilitation program and I've been attending meetings to help me in my recovery," he explained. He said he will spend his time with his family before the mitigation hearing on Wednesday and the final sentencing on Thursday. "This is probably the lowest point in my life and I don't think I have any other choice but to pull myself back up. And with that conviction, I'm willing to do everything and anything to start my life again," he added. Singson, a member of the Lower House, had earlier asked his colleagues to wait for the Hong Kong court's decision before moving to strip him of his post. The House relented to his request, according to the report. Section 4 of Hong Kong’s drug trafficking ordinance states that a person who admits to drug trafficking shall be fined $500,000 (more or less P22 million) and imprisonment for three years. In January this year, Singson pleaded guilty to trafficking drugs into Hong Kong, after a cocaine binge in Manila and then a visit to a gambling hub Macau. The 42-year-old legislator said he went on a cocaine-and-gambling binge after attending an Usher concert in Manila he helped stage on July 9, frustrated by an argument with his girlfriend. He then decided to join a friend who was going to attend a poker tournament in Macau, but he was arrested while transiting through Hong Kong. (See: Rep. Singson pleads guilty in HK drug trafficking case)—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMA News