The Davao del Norte judge who issued a nonbailable arrest warrant against the alleged hitmen who implicated President Rodrigo Duterte in the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) is now an official in the Court of Appeals (CA).
The President appointed Panabo City Executive Judge Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga as an associate justice in the appellate court.
Gonzaga replaced Associate Justice Romeo Barza, who was promoted to presiding justice last year.
Gonzaga issued separate arrest warrants against self-confessed hitmen Edgar Matobato and Arthur Lascañas on different occasions in 2017.
The two men implicated the President, then the mayor of Davao City, to the so-called DDS, a vigilante group operating in Davao City. —Julie M. Aurelio