2 Sandigan justices inhibit themselves from Estrada perjury case

Two Sandiganbayan justices yesterday inhibited themselves from hearing the perjury case against jailed former President Joseph Estrada, paving the way for the re-raffling of the case to another division of the anti-graft court.

Associate Justices Narciso Nario and Nicodemo Ferrer of the court’s Fourth Division informed Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena they were voluntarily inhibiting themselves to "save the image of the court."

This paved the way for the re-raffling of the perjury case to another division, which would be conducted after the court informs defense and prosecution lawyers next week.

Nario and Ferrer said they were inhibiting themselves because of the "deleterious effects" of the dissenting opinion of their co-division member Associate Justice Rodolfo Palattao.

In dissenting from the majority decision to reset Estrada’s arraignment for perjury from May 31 to June 27, Palattao said the ruling was part of a "drama" to delay the proceedings of Estrada’s case.

Nario and Ferrer said a "cloud of doubt" was cast on their proper stand of being "impartial, dispassionate, objective and unbiased magistrates."

In a related development, Estrada lawyer Rene Saguisag said he would withdraw his motion asking Associate Justice Anacleto Badoy to recuse himself from hearing Estrada’s plunder case.

Saguisag told the court in yesterday’s hearing that he would withdraw the motion after he was told by Third Division member Associate Justice Ricardo Ilarde that if Badoy relents and inhibits himself from the perjury case, the case would have to be re-raffled to another division.

Saguisag’s appeal for Badoy to inhibit himself are among the motions still pending before the Third Division, which has forced the court to cancel Estrada’s bail hearing for plunder earlier scheduled for June 18 to 22.

"Considering that there are still pending incidents to be resolved by the court before the prosecution may proceed with the presentation of its evidence, the hearings scheduled on said petition for bail on June 18 to 22 are hereby canceled," read a one-page ruling by division chairman Badoy.

With the concurrence of division members Ilarde and Justice Teresita de Castro, Badoy said they need more time to thoroughly and carefully study all the pleadings still pending with the court.

Among the pending motions are Estrada’s motion to quash the plunder case on grounds that the Anti-Plunder Law is unconstitutional, and the motion to reconsider Estrada’s appeal to be excluded from joint bail hearings with co-accused Edward Serapio.

"I would rather that we have a little delay as long as the resolutions are based on thorough and adequate study rather than going fast and coming up with haphazard decision that does not do justice to the parties and the country," Badoy told reporters.