(Eagle News) — The Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to transfer the trial venue of the cases filed against Atty. Augusto Eric Isidoro, the alleged owner of the Catanduanes property where a shabu laboratory stood, and his co-accused to any court in the National Capital Region instead.
In his letter to Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said this was because the “accused in these cases are politically connected and likewise yield an influence in the community.”
He noted that the presiding judge the prosecution wants to recuse from the cases, Executive Judge Lelu Contreras, was the only sitting judge in Virac.
According to Aguirre, Contreras had delayed the release of a search warrant the police had requested to scour a warehouse near the main highway in Palta Small on Nov. 25, 2016, when she said they should first secure a certification from the Municipal Engineering Office that the warehouse had no building permit.
He said the day after, when the police went to the warehouse, they found Contreras, Virac Mayor Samuel Laynes and Isidoro’s wife, Angelica A. Balmadrid-Isidoro.
Aguirre said Contreras informed the police they could apply for a search warrant, but when police went to her chambers to give her the necessary documents, she was not there.
Aguirre said in the end, the search warrant was issued at night.
The justice secretary also noted that it was Contreras who directed the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to destroy seized illegal drugs, and others right after the prosecution sought for her inhibition.
“In view of the disturbing developments and pursuant to the Supreme Court’s power to order a change of venue, may we respectfully request and implore your good office that the trial of these cases be immediately transferred from the Regional Trial Court of Virac, Catanduanes Branch 43, to the National Capital Judicial Region, preferably the regional trial court of Makati City or Quezon City,” Aguirre said.