A popular congressman from the Philippines admitted taking cocaine daily to deal with personal pressures and depression.
Ronald Singson, 41, pleaded guilty in the District Court yesterday to one count of drug trafficking involving 14.8 grams of powder which contained 6.67 grams of cocaine when he travelled to Hong Kong on July 11. He was arrested at Chek Lap Kok airport while on his way to Macau.
Singson told District Judge Joseph Yau Chi-lap that the drug was for his own use and he had no intention of selling or sharing it with anyone.
But senior public prosecutor Virginia Lau Siu-yee said Singson might have intended to sell the drug, considering the amount that was in his possession when he was arrested.
Singson testified yesterday that he took drugs 'regularly and intermittently', and he consumed about five grams a day. So he needed to visit the washroom several times every hour, the court was told.
The congressman said he resorted to cocaine as a form of self-medication to treat depression and ease the pressures caused by the end of a relationship, financial losses and as a politician.
'I was trying to self-medicate. Now I know it is a very stupid thing to do,' he said. 'It [the drug] kept me awake and I did not think of my problems.'
