THE Supreme Court (SC) has cleared a former regional trial court judge in Virac, Catanduanes, over a complaint that she deliberately delayed the search warrant for a shabu laboratory that was raided by the authorities in 2016.
However, she was held liable for simple misconduct for holding an unauthorized press briefing on the issue.
In a 20-page resolution promulgated on April 7, 2025, the SC third division through Associate Justice Maria Filomina Singh cleared former Virac RTC Branch 43 presiding judge Lelu Contreras of the complaint filed by resident Edralyn Pangilinan for gross ignorance of the law, conduct unbecoming a judge, gross misconduct and impropriety regarding the alleged delayed issuance of a warrant regarding the clandestine shabu laboratory in Barangay Paltac, Virac.
Concurring with the resolution were Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Japar Dimaampao, Henri Jean Paul Inting, and Samuel Gaerlan.
Pangilinan claimed the delay in the issuance of the warrant led to the escape of the suspects in the raided drug laboratory.
She also accused Contreras of grave abuse of authority when she visited the site of the shabu laboratory before issuing the warrant.
Pangilinan also questioned Contreras’ presence in an inquiry on the raided shabu laboratory by the House of Representatives Committee on Dangerous Drugs and making public statements about the issue.
In her defense, Contreras said there is no truth to the allegations that she delayed the issuance of the warrant, adding that she issued one three hours after the police applied for it.
She added that she made searching questions and assessed whether she would issue the warrant, hence the three-hour window from the application to the issuance.
Contreras also said she played no role whatsoever in the escape of drug personalities behind the operation of the shabu laboratory.
With respect to her presence in the congressional inquiry, she said it was a public hearing open to all.
The Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) later cleared Contreras, saying Pangilinan failed to produce evidence to support her allegations.
The SC affirmed the JIB ruling, adding that Contreras is “not guilty of gross ignorance of law and or conduct unbecoming of a judge and grave abuse of authority with respect to her issuance of the search warrant.”
“The Court agrees with the JIB’s finding that there is nothing irregular in the issuance of the search warrant. Here, the facts and records of the case bear that Judge Contreras followed to the letter all the requisites before she issued the warrant,” the SC said, adding she “ensured there was probable cause before she issued the same.”
The SC also found reasonable the three-hour window from the time the police filed the application up to the time the warrant was issued, adding that the police official who applied for it took his time completing his affidavit.
The resolution said Pangilinan also failed to present any proof that Contreras’ actions were motivated by bad faith, fraud, dishonesty and corruption.
However, the SC held Contreras administratively liable for simple misconduct for “her deportment during the hearing of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs and for holding an unauthorized media briefing and publishing a letter in the media about the case.
“Judge Contreras’ uninvited appearance during the hearing of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs, along with her statement shifting the blame on BFP Chief Tayobana, effectively eroded public confidence in the judiciary,” the SC pointed out.
The SC fined Contreras P100,000 for simple misconduct.
