Five Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) agents are facing contempt of court for faking a drug buy-bust in Dumaguete last June.

They made it appear they barged into a house for an entrapment operation when CCTV footage showed they picked up the suspects along the way and staged the buy-bust.

“The Court hereby initiates indirect contempt proceedings against Special Investigator  (SI) II Nelson Muchuelas, Intelligence Officer (IO) 1 May Ann Carmelo, IO 1 Jose Anthony Juanites, IO 1 Cheryl Mae Villaver, IO II Realyn Pinpin, Bgy Official Sheila Mae Catada, and media representative Juditho Fabillar for misleading the Court, for making untruthful statements in their affidavits, and for directly impeding and degrading the administration of justice,” said the Negros Oriental Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 34 in a decision dated October 9, a copy of which was obtained by Rappler.

Judge Amelia Lourdes Mendoza sent a copy of her order to the Department of Justice (DOJ) “for the purpose of initiating an investigation into the criminal liabilities of the arresting officers and the team leader involved in the so-called buy-bust operation in these cases.”

Prosecutor General Ben Malcontento told Rappler in a text message on Tuesday, October 20, that “PDEA was directed to investigate its own personnel.” Asked if the Office of the City Prosecutor (OCP) of Dumaguete will be hands off, Malcontento said “yes.”

The first contempt hearing has been set for November 13. Rappler has reached out to PDEA for comment on this story and will update the article once we receive a response. (PODCAST: Law of Duterte Land: Policies beyond body count of Duterte’s drug war)

Fake bust

PDEA sued 5 suspects with differing violations under the Dangerous Drugs Act after claiming to have entrapped them in a house in Barangay Looc, Dumaguete City, but the Court sided with the suspects who showed CCTV footage to prove otherwise.

In the official affidavits of the agents, a confidential informant came to them about the main suspect engaging in illegal drug trade. The PDEA agents planned a buy-bust with agent Carmelo as the supposed buyer.

The agents proceeded to the suspect’s house around 2:20 pm on June 28, and said they were led inside the home by the main suspect where 3 of the other suspects were allegedly having a pot session. The 5th suspect arrived after and handed the shabu sachet to the main suspect to sell to the agent in disguise.

Then the bust happened. (READ: Supreme Court: We will not allow Constitution to be casualty in drug war)

However, the suspects, through their Motion to Quash or a pleading to have the charges dropped, presented street CCTV footage that showed the suspects being picked up by roadside one by one before they were all led to the house at 2:20 pm.

“The Court is convinced that the accused in these cases were arrested in places other than where the supposed buy-bust operation took place and at a much earlier time than that declared by the PDEA agents,” said the court.

Judge Mendoza said that even though the CCTV footage only showed “outlines and figures of people without facial details,” it was still significant because it consistently showed the path of a blue car until it reached the area of the buy-bust at the same time declared by the agents.

“The registration details of the blue car reveal that it is registered with the PDEA. This case thus presents an interesting confluence of unlikely probabilities and unintended consequences,” said the court.

Constitution is supreme

“The Court cannot simply brush aside these glaring coincidences that are too patent to ignore. The Court concludes that accused were illegally arrested on June 28, 2020,” said the decision.

Judge Mendoza granted the motions to quash and dismissed the drug charges against the suspects and ordered them released, along with one of the suspect’s P200,000 bail bond.

Under the Rules of Court, a warrantless arrest is only valid if the suspect is caught in the act, or if there is probable cause to believe that a crime has just been committed, under which entrapments usually fall.

But the arrests “did not fall under any of the foregoing situations of a valid warrantless arrest,” said the judge, adding that “any evidence allegedly obtained from them is inadmissible.”

“In the scheme of our laws, the Constitution stands first and foremost, and always supreme,” said the judge.

“It cannot be simply made to sway and accommodate the call of situations and much more tailor itself to the whims and caprices of government and the people who run it,” Judge Mendoza said, citing an earlier Supreme Court case.

“Nothing short than constant vigilance on the part of the courts is required to prevent our slippery slope towards contempt for the law and anarchy,” the judge said. – Rappler.com