Shabu Lab Case: Tan wants judge to reconsider inhibition

Suspected drug financier Calvin Tan through his legal counsel has filed an urgent motion for reconsideration after Regional Trial Court Branch 28 judge Marilyn Yap denied the motion for voluntary inhibition from the shabu laboratory case pending before her sala.

Tan's lawyer William delos Santos, in his motion for reconsideration, prayed that in the interest of substantial justice and the preservation of the integrity of the court, the motion for the voluntary inhibition be granted not only for Tan but also for the others accused with him.

Yap in her order last Monday, denied the motion for voluntary inhibition after saying she finds the motion has no basis in law and fact.

Delos Santos filed the motion for voluntary inhibition saying Yap is biased and prejudging the case. His motion was an offshoot of the March 31, 2006 joint order of Yap, wherein Tan's petition for bail was denied.

Yap stated in her April 17 order that bias and prejudice of the judge as a ground for disqualification must be actual and it must be shown by clear and convincing evidence.

Tan and the other 13 accused, including warehouse owners Richard Ong and Andy Ng, are facing trial for alleged violations of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 pending before Yap's sala.

Tan is being indicted as the alleged financier of the two alleged clandestine shabu laboratories in barangay Pakna-an and Umapad in Mandaue City that were raided in September 2004.

The shabu laboratory in barangay Umapad was said to be the biggest in Southeast Asia where police seized 675 kilos of shabu worth P1.5 billion and enough chemicals to produce 15 tons more of the banned substance. - Mitchelle P. Calipayan