SC justice refuses to inhibit self from deliberations on Neri petition

MANILA, Philippines – Supreme Court Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco rejected yesterday calls for him to inhibit from the Court’s deliberation on the petition filed by former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) director general Romulo Neri questioning the arrest order issued by the Senate against him.

Velasco was reacting to the claim of Senate witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. that the SC justice is a golf mate of Neri, current chairman of the Commission on Higher Education.

Lozada said that he and Neri had played golf with Velasco at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong last year but could not recall whether the canceled $329-million national broadband network (NBN) contract between the government and ZTE Corp. of China was discussed on the greens.

Lozada, then a consultant in the NBN project, said Neri and Velasco have known each other for sometime, which Velasco apparently failed to disclose to other SC justices.

Under the Rules of Court, depending on the circumstances, an inhibition could be voluntary or mandatory. A judge or justice is obliged to inhibit himself or herself from a case involving relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity. Another instance is when the concerned judge or justice has financial interest in a case.

Voluntary inhibition on the other hand is subjective.

A judge or justice may opt for voluntary inhibition if he or she no longer feels objective, or has prejudged the case or may have been involved in the past, in one way or another, on the pending case. Voluntary inhibition is based on the sense of delicadeza.

“The statement is simply devoid of truth. Secretary Neri is but an acquaintance. If my memory serves me right, I first met Secretary Neri sometime last year during one of the oath-taking ceremonies I was invited to in Malacañang. While having snacks after the ceremony, I was introduced to Secretary Neri, who was then the director general of NEDA. During our very cordial but brief conversation, the subject of golf which both of us enjoy playing came up. We parted agreeing to play a round of golf should the opportunity present itself,” Velasco said in a statement.

Velasco said that after their meeting in Malacañang, Neri invited him to play golf at Wack Wack. At the golf course, Velasco said Neri introduced him to two other players, one of whom was Lozada.

“It was only on that occasion that I played golf with Secretary Neri. Surely, that sole encounter at the golf course does not make us golf mates. Complete strangers often see themselves playing on the same flight. So the statement of Mr. Lozada depicting me as Secretary Neri’s golf mate is factually baseless, to say the least,” Velasco said.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Lozada uses this incident as basis for my inhibition in the NBN-ZTE case initiated by Secretary Neri before the Court. It is unfair to virtually question my objectivity and capacity to render a just and detached judgment in the NBN-ZTE case on account of a single round of golf. Rest assured that I will vote in the NBN-ZTE case fairly as I have done in all previous cases,” Velasco added.