CA orders inhibition of Marikina judge from SMHC's P50M theft case vs Indonesians

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals has ordered the recusal of Marikina court Judge Alice Gutierrez from the theft case filed by San Miguel Holdings Corp. against four individuals, including two Indonesians.

In a 16-page ruling, the CA’s former ninth division ordered Gutierrez to take her hands off the case before her sala. This, after the judge herself, refused to inhibit from the case in a ruling dated June 29, 2017.

Gutierrez denied the petitioners’ appeal on Aug. 29, 2017.

SMHC sought the appellate court to reverse Gutierrez’s ruling that denied the motion for inhibition.

The case stemmed from the theft case filed by the SMHC against Indonesians Eri Shadik Wahono and Nadiya Stamboel. SMHC accused Wahono of allegedly funnelling P50 million from the Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp., which operates the Skyway, into another company he created called Citra Central Expressway Corp.

READ: Interpol aid sought vs 2 Indons in P50-M SMHC theft

In weighing in on the case, the CA said that the records reveal that “there are valid and existing grounds that warrant Judge Gutierrez’s recusal from the proceedings.”

It pointed out that the judge, during the July 18, 2017, pre-trial conference, “exhibited a degree of aversion or hostility” towards SMHC.

The CA also noted that the petitioners’ Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition was still pending before it, when Gutierrez “exhibited undue haste when she issued the Order dated Oct. 23, 2017 granting the private respondents’ (accused) demurrer to evidence.”

The said ruling acquitted the private respondents and junked the criminal complaints against Wahono and Stamboel—who remain at large.

“A judge’s official conduct should be free from the appearance of impropriety, and his personal behavior, not only upon the bench and in the performance of judicial duties, but also in his everyday life, should be beyond reproach,” the CA reminded Gutierrez.

“Judges shall not knowingly, while a proceeding is before or could come before them, make any comment that might reasonably be expected to affect the outcome of such proceeding or impair the manifest fairness of the process,” the court added.

The appellate court ordered the raffle of the case to another judge that would handle the trial of the case.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Sesinando Villon. Concurring were Associate Justices Manuel Barrios and Renato Francisco.