Ex-judge faces rap for taking custody of an inmate

MANILA, Philippines — A former municipal trial court judge is facing criminal charges for taking into custody an inmate without a court order.

The Office of the Ombudsman indicted former Judge Baguinda Ali Pacalna for obstruction of justice over the incident in 2007 in Marawi City.

Records showed that in September that year, policemen nabbed a certain Menor Saud who had a gun and an outstanding warrant of arrest for car theft issued by the Regional Trial Court of Lanao Del Sur.

Saud was then detained at the Marawi City jail. Pacalna went to the city jail and took custody of Saud despite objection of the police officers. 

The Ombudsman resolution ruled that Pacalna's act was "laced with undue influence upon the jail warden to allow the unlawful release of a detainee."

"The release of a detention prisoner must be upon the order of a competent court, either through recognizance or by posting of a bond in any form allowed by law," the resolution read.

Obstruction of Justice penalizes any individual who harbors, conceals or facilitates the escape of any person whom he knows to have committed any offense under existing penal laws in order to prevent arrest, prosecution and conviction of the person in detention.