Aguirre asks Carpio to transfer venue of Catanduanes shabu lab cases

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has asked Supreme Court Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio to transfer the venue of the criminal cases in connection with the mega shabu laboratory discovered in Virac, Catanduanes in 2016.

Aguirre wants the cases transferred from the Virac Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 43 to lower courts either in Quezon City or Makati City after the prosecution asked Judge Lelu Contreras to recuse herself over questions on her impartiality.

In his four-page letter received by Carpio on Tuesday, Aguirre also raised the alleged political connection of the accused.

"In addition to the impartiality of the Presiding Judge, the accused in these cases are politically connected and likewise yield an influence in the community. Thus, there is an imperious necessity to change the venue of trial of these cases," he said.

"This would also obviate the need for elaborate security arrangements  for the state prosecutors and the witnesses as well. The transfer of venue will also insulate the proceedings from influence of threats from any groups affiliated with the accused," he added. 

Implicated in the case are Augusto Eric Isidoro, former acting regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation's regional office in Central Mindanao; his wife Angelica; and sons of a former Catanduanes governor, among several other personalities.

"There is no other sitting RTC judge in Virac," Aguirre said, as Branch 43 Presiding Contreras also handles cases lodged at Branch 42.

Motion for inhibition

Contreras allegedly could not handle the case with the required neutrality due to her actions surrounding the release of a search warrant for the then-suspected drug laboratory, according to the prosecution's motion for inhibition filed on March 21.

The motion states that Contreras released the needed search warrant "almost nighttime of November 26, 2016," almost a full day after police applied for the warrant.

According to the motion, the warrant was issued after a trip to the town mayor's house as regards a no-building permit certification for the warehouse, and an appearance of the judge herself -- together with the mayor and the wife of an ex-NBI official -- at the property, which visibly housed drug lab equipment.

"The Presiding Judge then mentioned that the police officers could already apply for a search warrant," the motion said, but added that Contreras was not in her chambers "the whole afternoon" when the police inspector prepared the required documents.

Aguirre also said that Contreras, after receiving the March 21 motion, ordered the destruction of the seized dangerous drugs and equipment in the shabu lab within 24 hours upon receipt of notice.

This, he said, was a violation of the rules of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 that provide for the securing of samples of such items before the rest is destroyed.

"The representative samples taken during the ocular inspection are essential in the prosecution of illegal possession of dangerous [drugs]. The samples serve as the corpus delicti or object of the crime and are vital to the prosecution's cause," Aguirre said in the letter. —ALG, GMA News