Engineer files abuse case vs judge

DAVAO CITY—A contractor from Agusan del Norte province has filed a complaint against a Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) judge in the province for alleged abusive behavior and harassment.

Hospicio Ebarle Jr. claimed in his 10-page complaint, filed in the Office of the Court Administrator of the Supreme Court, that Judge Dennis Castilla of Buenavista of the MCTC Branch 1 in Butuan City has been using threats of imprisonment and coercion against him.

Castilla could not be reached for comment on Ebarle’s claims.

Ebarle said Castilla had forcibly confiscated a concrete mixer in April.

In his complaint, Ebarle said the abuses did not stop and end over the concrete mixer.

Ebarle said even after turning over the concrete mixer because of fear the judge will make true his threat to have him imprisoned, Castilla continued to harass him.

He said the judge filed complaints against him at the National Bureau of Investigation in Butuan and the provincial prosecutor’s office as Castilla now wanted him and another contractor, Jun Racaza, to pay P1.9 million for the mixer.

Recently, Castilla sued him for estafa and qualified theft, according to Ebarle.

Castilla, he said, also threatened to file cases against anybody who would testify on his behalf to make life difficult for any lawyer based in Butuan City, who would handle the cases filed against the judge. Inquirer Mindanao