EDITORIAL – A call for cleansing

The Philippines is still a long way from turning into another Colombia. But the nation could be getting there, if we are to believe authorities. Interior Secretary Jose Lina Jr. recently filed graft and administrative charges against a judge of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court who had invalidated a search warrant issued by a Manila judge for a raid last year in Quezon City. The raid yielded 41 kilos of shabu with a street value of P89 million and 974 kilos of ephedrine, the active ingredient in shabu.

The invalidation led to the dismissal of drug trafficking charges against seven Chinese nationals and three Filipinos. QC Judge Emilio Leachon claims Manila Judge Enrico Lanzanas had no authority to issue a warrant for a raid in Quezon City. Cops contend that the warrant was valid. Leachon will have his day in court. Meanwhile, a new judge has taken over the case. Six of the accused Chinese have been re-arrested and are now held without bail.

It’s not the first time that a judge has been accused of graft or coddling criminal elements. The proliferation of judges involved in corruption, such as the issuance of questionable temporary restraining orders, gave rise to the term hoodlums in robes. Cops obtain a warrant from a judge in another city or municipality when they suspect that criminals are being protected by judges with jurisdiction over the raiding site.

If Leachon turns out to be innocent, it would indicate that the raiders, Lanzanas and the new judge who reopened the case are all ignorant of thelaw. None of which speaks well of the state of the criminal justice system. Respect for the rule of the law and belief in justice are bedrocks of democracy. But how can people respect the law and have faith in the justice system when a major drug trafficking case ends up in such a fiasco? This case once again raises the urgency of undertaking a thorough cleansing of the judiciary.