BATANGAS City – THE Regional Trial Court here dismissed the case filed against Mayor Nilo Villanueva y Magtibay of the town of Mabini, Batangas for lack of probable cause.
In her 10-page decision dated August 24, 2023, Thursday, Hon. Dorcas P. Ferriols-Perez, Presiding Judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 84 granted the Omnibus Motion to Quash Search Warrant No. 23-442, to Suppress Evidence and to Dismissed the Case for Lack of Probable Cause.
Finding some irregularity in the issuance of the said warrant by Hon. Judge Mary Josephine P. Lazaro of RTC Branch 74 in Antipolo City, and in the implementation of the same, Judge Ferriols-Perez quashed the questioned warrant and ordered the dismissal of the case.
The judge also directed the regional chief of the PNP-CIDG-RFU-NCR to immediately release Mayor Villanueva from detention, unless the beleaguered mayor is being detained for some other lawful cause or causes.| – Joenald Medina Rayos