NBI to sue judge for irregular order

The National Bureau of Investigation is set to file an administrative complaint before the Supreme Court against a Regional Trial Court judge in Mandaue City for alleged misconduct after they were ordered to return luxury vehicles they earlier confiscated to the owner.

Former NBI-7 director Reynaldo Esmeralda, chief of a special task force in Manila, said that RTC judge Agustin Vestil's order on July 28, directing the NBI to return 24 right-hand-drive cars to its owner was irregular.

Esmeralda said that Vestil does not have authority to hear the case since it falls under the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, which is the exclusive jurisdiction of the Bureau of Customs.

Besides, Esmeralda said the cars have long been turned over to customs and have already been forfeited in favor of the government.

Esmeralda yesterday directed his former executive officer Nelson Bartolome, who now heads the NBI anti-organized crime division in Manila, to prepare the administrative complaint against Vestil at the Office of the Supreme Court administrator Cristopher Lock.

The NBI-7, then headed by Esmeralda, raided the warehouse owned by Sulpicio Jao in Mandaue City last year and seized 24 RHD cars.