The Court of Appeals (CA) has rejected a plea by Guia Gomez Castro, a former barangay captain dubbed Manila City’s “drug queen,” to set aside a 2024 ruling that affirmed an arrest warrant issued against her for murder. The warrant stems from the killing of an alleged “ninja cop.”

In a three-page ruling promulgated 2 July 2025, the CA’s Third Division, through Associate Justice Jaime Fortunato Caringal, held that Castro’s arguments, which delved into matters of evidence, should be addressed during the trial of the murder case.

Castro, who was elected chairperson of Barangay 484 in Sampaloc, Manila, in 2018, is accused of organizing a drug ring with the help of corrupt police officers and ordering the killing of PO1 Roderick Valencia.

Valencia was a suspected reseller of seized illegal drugs reportedly under Castro’s payroll. The police officer was fatally shot by two motorcycle-riding men in Barangay Salvacion, Quezon City, on 14 July 2011.

The case remained unresolved for eight years until the motorcycle driver, Ernesto Encarnado, executed an extrajudicial confession implicating Castro in the killing. He claimed Castro masterminded Valencia’s killing because the officer failed to remit large amounts from the sales of recycled illegal drugs.

“Upon a thorough re-examination of the case records, this Court finds absolutely no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the lower courts in denying the petitioner’s motion to quash the warrant of arrest,” the CA ruled.

Castro had argued in her motion for reconsideration that the trial court erred by giving weight to Encarnado’s extrajudicial confession, which came more than eight years after Valencia’s killing. She also questioned the issuance of the arrest warrant despite the absence of an autopsy report or death certificate to prove the actual date and cause of Valencia’s death.

However, the CA held there was no need for a death certificate or an autopsy report to prove Valencia’s death. The court noted that a spot report dated 13 July 2011, explicitly stated the policeman sustained three gunshot wounds before being declared dead on arrival.

“An average, reasonable person, which is the standard for determining probable cause, would naturally conclude that the victim died from gunshots on the specified date,” the CA said.

“Such a person would not require a death certificate or autopsy report to reach this conclusion. Therefore, the lower courts were correct in issuing the said warrant, and in denying the petitioner’s motion to quash the said warrant,” it added.

The court also dismissed Castro’s attempt to discredit Encarnado’s extrajudicial confession by arguing it took him eight years to come forward. The CA noted there is no deadline for a witness to make an extrajudicial confession.