Judge inhibits from De Lima's last drug case
MANILA, Philippines — The judge handling the last illegal drugs charge against Leila de Lima has inhibited himself from the case after the former senator’s co-accused cited a conflict of interest.
In a seven-page order dated June 15, Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 256 Judge Romeo Buenaventura granted the motions for inhibition filed by De Lima’s former aides Ronnie Dayan and Joenel Sanchez, and former Bureau of Corrections director Franklin Jesus Bucayu.
De Lima’s co-accused had asked Buenaventura to stop handling the case after learning the judge is the brother of lawyer Emmanuel Buenaventura, supposedly the former counsel of the late Rep. Reynaldo Umali.
Umali was the chairperson of the House of Representatives’ justice panel when it was conducting hearings into the alleged drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison that supposedly involved De Lima.
“Simply put, the suspicion of the accused-movants, while unfounded if not contrived, cannot be ignored since it already tarnished the integrity and impartiality of the Court as well as the needed trust and confidence in all subsequent proceedings in the instant case,” Buenaventura said.
“The undersigned presiding judge will exercise his discretion and will recuse himself from further hearing this case not because the allegations are true, but because it is his avowed duty as a member of the Bench to promote confidence in the judicial system,” he added.
Due to Buenaventura’s inhibition, the records of the illegal drugs case will be transmitted to the executive judge for re-raffle to the other branches of the court for the continuation of the proceedings.
‘Impartial judge’
Buenaventura said the fact that lawyer Emmanuel was not sufficient to prove that he “acted with malice, bad faith, and partiality” in conducting proceedings and in denying the bail petition of De Lima and her co-accused.
The judge denied last week the application for bail by De Lima, Sanchez, Bucayu, Dayan and the former senator’s alleged bagman, Jose Adrian Dera, as he ruled that the evidence of their guilt was strong.
According to the presiding judge, it was beyond his personal knowledge that his brother acted as a former counsel of Dayan who assisted him in the execution of his affidavit that he has now recanted.
He also said it was beyond his personal knowledge that his brother supposedly served as the legal adviser of Umali.
Buenaventura maintained that “he has conducted himself with the cold impartiality of an impartial judge, and no one had swayed his judgment and conduct in adjudicating the instant case.”
He, however, said he “recognizes the fact that his every action, no matter how judiciously made, is vulnerable to charges of bias and partiality.”
The former lawmaker won in her first case when she challenged the sufficiency of prosecution evidence against her.
She won her second case on the ground of reasonable doubt — this was after the star prosecution witness recanted his testimony against her and admitted that he was pressured to make false allegations. But the Department of Justice has already asked the separate Muntinlupa court to reconsider its ruling that cleared De Lima.
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