DUE to questionable search warrants, Senator Richard Gordon hopes the Supreme Court would investigate judges issuing warrants that allow Philippine National Police operatives to ostensibly search government detention facilities.
Gordon pointed out that PNP operatives were able to effect questionable missions using search warrants issued by judges such as in the case of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa.
Espinosa was killed on Nov. 5, 2016 inside his Baybay Sub-Provincial Jail cell, along with another inmate Raul Yap, while operatives of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Region 8 served a search warrant in connection with illegal possession of firearms charges.
He also said the Supreme Court should act on this matter and investigation should be immediately finished.
“For me, I don’t think that’s ignorance of the law alone, I think that’s malicious,” the senator said.
“The judge knows that a warrant should not be issued for any detention facility, that a cell cannot be opened and your cabinet cannot be searched. or even your bed… Why issue a warrant?”
Gordon also expressed alarm that it might have become a modus operandi for some unscrupulous PNP members to serve search warrants inside prison facilities to lend legitimate color to their nefarious operations.
He cited two other previous instances where inmates were killed while PNP operatives were serving search warrants inside the jail. Killed in the operations were inmates Francisco Balagbis and Edgar Allen Alvarez.
A week before the Espinosa killing, Balagbis, an inmate of the Baybay City Jail of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology-8, was killed during a raid on Oct. 28, 2016 by operatives of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force of the Police Regional Office-8.
On the other hand, Alvarez was killed when police operatives raided the Leyte Regional Penitentiary in Abuyog, Leyte on Aug. 11, 2016.
He was shot to death while allegedly attempting to fight the raiding team from the CIDG, Regional Anti-Illegal Drug Special Operations Group, Regional Public Safety Battalion, and the Regional Maritime Unit, all from Region 8.
In an en banc resolution issued on Nov. 11, 2016, the Supreme Court ordered the Office of the Court Administrator to investigate the judge involved in the Espinosa slay within five days and to submit a recommendation five days thereafter.
Thus, Court Administrator Midas Marquez ordered Judge Tarcelo Sabarre Jr. of Basey, Samar RTC Branch 30 and Judge Janet Cabalona of Calbiga, Samar RTC Branch 33 to explain the necessity and circumstances for the issuance of search warrants against the detainees who were under custody of authorities in a government detention facility.
Sabarre issued the warrants against Espinosa and Balagbis, while Cabalona issued the warrant against Alvarez.