Convicted judge asks to be spared from jail

MANILA, Philippines - A former trial court judge, who has been convicted for bribery charges, has asked the Sandiganbayan not to put him in jail.

Former Bulacan Judge Henry Domingo said he did not receive P20,000 in exchange for a favorable ruling on a case he handled in 2003.

In a motion filed on Dec. 1, Domingo asked the anti-graft court to reverse its decision issued on Nov. 19 that found him guilty of bribery.

Domingo, who was sentenced to three years in prison, asked the court to acquit him. He said he did not receive any bribe.

The former judge was arrested by National Bureau of Investigation agents in an entrapment in Baliwag, Bulacan on Feb. 17, 2003.

He was caught in possession of P10,000 in cash and a check with the same amount that he reportedly received from Ildefenso Cuevas, a businessman who was facing a case of falsification of public documents.

In his appeal, Domingo said he did not ask money from Cuevas.

Domingo denied Cuevas’ testimony that he offered to help the businessman in a case that he was planning to file against a person who sold him a property.