Judge asked to inhibit from Ampatuan case

MANILA, Philippines - State prosecutors have asked Quezon City Judge Vivencio Baclig to inhibit himself from the rebellion case against members and supporters of the Ampatuan clan, claiming the trial court judge is biased against the prosecution.

State Prosecutor Lamberto Fabros filed the motion to inhibit Judge Baclig of Regional Trial Court Branch 77 from the rebellion case last Friday afternoon, and as a result, yesterday’s scheduled joint hearing for determination of probable cause and deferment of transfer of the accused from Mindanao to Metro Manila was suspended.

Along with Fabros, state prosecutors Rassendell Rex Gingoyon, Aldrin Evangelista and Niven Canlapan sought the inhibition of Baclig because he displayed “strong antagonism against the government.”

“The honorable judge has prejudiced the instant case... and failed to observe the procedure laid down in the Rules of Court,” the prosecutors said in the seven-page petition.

The government prosecutors were referring to the Feb. 5 hearing during which Baclig was supposed to hear only Andal Ampatuan Sr.’s urgent motion to defer his transfer to a jail in Metro Manila. At the same time, however, the court also heard a motion for the judicial determination of probable cause, a violation of the three-day notice rule for court hearings.

The prosecutors also said that on Feb. 9, they moved for the exclusion of all defense lawyers in the hearing for the motion for determination of probable cause because their participation is not needed as specified in the Rules of Court. Baclig, however, denied the motion of the prosecution panel.

“Instead of acknowledging their strict observance of court rules and etiquette, the prosecution is not heeded. When it is the opposing party who commits the infraction, the judge is more understanding and accommodating,” the motion stated.

“These unwarranted actuations, to the prosecution’s mind, not only betray the honorable judge’s sentiments about the case and his bias against the people of the Philippines, but the mandate which requires the judge to perform duties without favor, bias, or prejudice and not to engage in conduct incompatible with the diligent discharge of judicial duties,” it added.

The hearing of the rebellion case against the Ampatuans and their supporters was put on hold until the motion for inhibition is resolved. – With Reinir Padua, Sandy Araneta