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A judge at a Magistrates Court in Central Visayas has called on fellow judges to protect the people’s right to liberty against law enforcement officials who are wrong and involved in the war on drugs.
This after Presiding Judge Amelia Lourdes Mendoza of the Negros Oriental Branch 34 Regional Court of First Instance turned over five agents of the Philippine Drug Control Agency (PDEA) who were found to have lied about a purchase operation. of drugs last June.
As a result, Judge Mendoza ordered the dismissal of the drug charges against five individuals based on fabricated evidence and false statements.
He also ordered the immediate release of the defendants identified as Richard Torres, Shinette Sarabia, Gwendell Ozoa and Gabriel Aranas.
On the other hand, the bail paid by the defendant Katrina Tish Dabao amounting to P200,000 was ordered to be delivered to her surety.
Judge Mendoza also initiated indirect contempt proceedings against PDEA agents Nelson Muchuelas, May Ann Carmelo, Jose Anthony Juanites, Cheryl Mae Villaver, and Realyn Pinpin, barangay official Sehila Mae Catada, and media representative Juditho Fabillar.
Judge Mendoza said that they must face indirect contempt proceedings “for misleading the court, for making false statements in the sworn statements and for directly hindering and degrading the administration of justice.”
In line with this, the court ordered them to prove in writing the cause for which they should not be sanctioned for contempt within 10 days of receiving the court order that was issued on October 9.
The indirect contempt process was set for a hearing on November 13, 2020.
The trial court is also pressing for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Dumaguete City Attorney’s Office to carry out an investigation to determine the criminal responsibilities of the officers who arrested and the leader of the team involved in the operation. purchase-raid.
Likewise, the court also handed over to the general director of the PDEA, Wilkins Villanueva, its order in order to carry out an immediate investigation into the administrative responsibilities of the officers who arrested them and those who participated in the alleged purchase-raid operations.
“This court must not shirk this immense responsibility to protect not only the individual rights of the defendants in these cases but, more importantly, to ensure that individual freedoms are never sacrificed for the convenience and effectiveness of war against drugs, ”Judge Mendoza said. he said in his 15 page order.
“The courts must intervene and take the stick for individual liberties, and in no other situation is this duty more critical and necessary when the supposed protectors of law and order become perpetrators themselves,” he said.
The court order originated in the motion to annul and suppress evidence presented by the defendants to request the dismissal of the drug charges filed against them, considering that the court does not have jurisdiction over them due to the illegality of their arrests.
The defendants claimed that the officers who arrested them lied about the circumstances of their arrest to make it appear that the drug buying and selling operation was conducted legitimately.
Contrary to allegations by the arresting officers that they were all detained at Torres ‘home, the defendants said they were picked up by PDEA agents at different times and places before being taken to Torres’ home.
In support of their motion, the defendants submitted several video recordings taken from the Command Center of the Dumaguete city government that operates CCTV cameras in different parts of the city.
Video recordings showed that the defendants Torres, Dabao, Ozoa and Aranas were “picked up” one after another near a traveler’s hostel and “forced into” a blue car.
The same blue car was used to pick up Sarabia in front of a restaurant as seen on CCTV. Later it was verified that the blue car was registered with the PDEA.
All the defendants were taken to Torres’ home where the PDEA claimed they were all arrested.
“The court is convinced that the defendants in these cases were detained in places other than where the alleged purchase-raid operation was carried out and at a time much earlier than that declared by the PDEA agents,
the order read.
“The court cannot simply ignore these glaring coincidences which are too blatant to ignore. The court concludes that the defendants were illegally arrested on June 28, 2020, it added.
