SC suspends Malabon judge over search warrants

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) recently suspended a judge in Malabon City for two years without pay for mismanaging search warrant applications.

In a decision promulgated on Sept. 5, the SC found Regional Trial Court Branch 170 Judge Zaldy Docena guilty of gross neglect of duty. The ruling was penned by Justice Mariano del Castillo.

The SC said the gravity of Docena’s neglect was serious enough to warrant the penalty of dismissal but the justices took into consideration his 30 years of government service and that this was the first time he was sanctioned by the High Court.

The SC said records show Docena failed to properly monitor the submission of returns under Rule 126, which deals with search and seizure, and committed several lapses in ascertaining whether those who applied for search warrants turned over the seized items and their corresponding inventory.

The sanctions stemmed from the spot audit conducted in April 2016 by the Office of the Court Administrator  in Docena’s courtroom “due to persistent reports pertaining to the alleged irregular issuance of search warrants by… Docena.”

Meanwhile, the SC also found Judge Celso Magsino Jr. of Malabon RTC Branch 74, also the executive judge of the Malabon City RTC, guilty of simple misconduct and fined him P20,000 for imposing his own internal policies and practices in lieu of the existing rules in the raffle of applications involving ordinary cases covered by the judiciary’s guidelines.