MANILA, Philippines — Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta has directed justices of third level courts and judges of second- and first-level courts to refrain from inhibiting from cases without “just and valid” reason.
Under Administrative Order No. 62-2020, Peralta directed the justices of the third level courts and the second- and first-level courts judges to specifically address “persistent reports,” citing Canon 3 of the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary, which puts a premium on the court’s impartiality in the discharge of the judicial office.
Under Section 1 of the Code, judges were urged to “perform their judicial duties without favor, bias or prejudice.”
In issuing the order, the chief justice reminded them to “carry out judicial duties with appropriate consideration for all persons, such as the parties, witnesses, lawyers, court staff and judicial colleagues, without differentiation on any irrelevant ground, immaterial to the proper performance of such duties.”
For stricter monitoring, Peralta has also issued a separate administrative order required all justices of the Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, and Court of Tax Appeals as well as trial court judges, to submit to his office copies of temporary restraining orders (TROs), status quo ante orders (SQAs), and writs of preliminary injunction (WPIs), and orders of voluntary inhibition within five days of its issuance.