Lawyer, judge in ‘conspiracy’

REGIONAL State Prosecutor Jaime Umpa viewed as “conspiracy” the grant of bail on the two suspected drug pushers even if the case against them has not been filed in court yet.

Umpa said there might be a “conspiracy” between lawyer Paul Vincent Villegas and Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10 Judge Josefina Bacal, who granted the bail.

Click here for Election 2010 updates

It has led to the immediate release of suspected drug pushers Alice Canque, 45, and her live-in partner Leonilo Carreon Jr., both residents of Purok 2, Poblacion, Valencia City.

“We can’t avoid thinking that there is conspiracy and deception on the part of the lawyer and the judge, for allowing herself to be deceived,” Umpa said.

Because of this, he said Villegas may face disbarment complaint for his acts.

“He earlier knew that his clients already waived their rights and agreed to place themselves under police custody yet they secretly filed a motion to admit bail,” Umpa said.

He also vowed to support Director Gilberto Abanto Jr. of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Northern Mindanao in filing an administrative complaint against Bacal.

The administrative case stemmed from Bacal’s granting of the motion to post bail by accused Canque and Carreon even if cases against them had yet to be filed.

The PDEA filed charges against the two suspects in violation of Section 5 of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which is non-bailable.

It was learned that Villegas was one of those who acted as witness when PDEA personnel conducted inventory of the confiscated illegal drugs from the two suspected drug pushers.

“For delicadeza, he (Atty. Villegas) should not supposed to handle the case especially since he signed up as one of the witnesses when we conducted the inventory,” Abanto said.

Abanto said PDEA is filing a complaint for “gross ignorance of the law” against Bacal.

“She (Judge Bacal) granted the motion of the accused to post bail without asking the prosecutor the nature of the case,” Abanto said.

Granting that the case had been filed, he said the cases involved were non-bailable.

This paper tried to contact Bacal Saturday but failed. A relative who asked not to be named refused to give the judge’s cell phone number, lacking permission to do so.

Bacal was the unnamed judge that Umpa had earlier blamed for the release of the two drug suspects, which he found as “highly irregular.”

Earlier, Abanto expressed disappointment over the release of the suspects, saying they have a “strong case” against the accused.

Canque and Carreon, he said, were in PDEA’s “target list” of notorious drug pushers since 1997.