Parojinogs' drug, firearm cases raffled off to Ozamiz judges

The Ozamiz City Regional Trial Court (RTC) on Tuesday raffled off cases filed by the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) against Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog-Echavez and her brother Reynaldo Parojinog Jr.

The Parajinogs, children of slain Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., were each facing charges of illegal possession of dangerous drugs, firearms and ammunition, as well as possession of dangerous drugs.

According to a report on GMA News TV's  "Quick Response Team",  Ozamiz City RTC branch 15 (Judge Edmundo Pintac) would handle the vice-mayor's cases, while those of Reynaldo Jr. went to branch 35 (Judge Salome Dungog).

The Ozamiz City RTC revealed that deep pressure came with handling such high-profile cases,  and it was possible the cases would be transferred to RTCs outside of Ozamiz City.

The Vice Mayor and her brother are currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

The Parojinog family's legal counsel, Ferdinand Topacio, had said that they would use CCTV footage to prove that police had planted guns during the raid.

He also said he would bring crime scene photos and other videos to prove in court that the raiding team had used deadly force unnecessarily, resulting in "overkill".

Two witnesses had also testified against the Ozamiz City police raid that resulted in the death of 16 people.

The local police commander, Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido, had dismissed these accusations as attempts to discredit the police, and mentioned that his investigators were collecting more evidence for a later organized-crime charge against the family. — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News