A Dumaguete City court dismissed the charges filed against the four arrested in a fake Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) buy-bust operation.
Judge Amelia Lourdes Mendoza released an order dated October 9 for the release of Richard Torres, Shinette Sarabia, Gwendell Ozoa, and Gabriel Aranas from detention. It also initiated indirect contempt proceedings against the involved PDEA agents.
The court said the arrest was illegal and ruled in favor of the accused, who claimed the PDEA agents picked them up at different places. This is in contrast to the claims of the operatives that they raided Torres’ house.
The court believed the CCTV footage from Dumaguete local government showed the accused were “forced” inside a blue car one after another, at different places, within the span of little over an hour on June 28, 2020.
The court also found that the blue car was registered with the PDEA.
The court initiated indirect contempt proceedings against PDEA agents Nelson Muchuelas, May Ann Carmelo, Jose Anthony Juanites, Cheryl Mae Villaver, and Realyn Pinpin, as well as a barangay official and a media representative “for misleading the Court, for making untruthful statements in their affidavits, and for directly impending and degrading the administration of justice.”
The persons involved were ordered to show cause or explain why they should not be punished for contempt within 10 days from receipt of the order. A hearing is set for November 13.
The Department of Justice and the Dumaguete City prosecutor’s office, and the PDEA chief Wilkins Villanueva would also be given copies of the order to investigate the agents’ criminal and administrative liabilities.
In the 15-page order, Judge Amelia Lourdes Mendoza said the courts need to be vigilant “to prevent our slippery slope towards contempt for the law and anarchy.”