Muntinlupa judge inhibits from de Lima’s third drug case

HOPEFUL Detained Former Senator Leila de Lima leaves the regional trial court in Muntinlupa City. (File photo /RICHARD A. REYES)

MANILA, Philippines — Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 256 Judge Romeo Buenaventura has voluntarily inhibited himself from hearing the third drug case of former senator Leila de Lima.

He is the same judge who denied de Lima’s bail petition.

This developed, after de Lima’s former aides and co-accused, Joenel Sanchez, Franklin Bucayu and Ronnie Dayan, in three separate motions, sought Buenaventura’s voluntary inhibition.

The three had questioned the impartiality of the judge due to his alleged undisclosed relations with Oriental Mindoro representative Reynaldo Umali’s legal counsel, Attorney Emmanuel Buenaventura.

Attorney Buenaventura had allegedly assisted the lawmaker in coercing Dayan to testify against de Lima.

Amid his decision to distance himself from the case, the judge refuted the allegation of the three respondents.

“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,” the order of the court read.

“For this reason, 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 member of the Bench to promote confidence in the judicial system,” the judge stated.

Judge Buenaventura pointed out he was not aware that it was his brother who assisted Dayan in executing an affidavit.

Dayan later recanted, claiming to have been forced to drag de Lima into the case.

The judge also said he had no personal knowledge of the recantation made by Dayan when the former aide testified before another sala, the Muntinlupa City RTC Branch 204, where the affidavit that resulted from the alleged coercion was submitted.

“Quite obviously, the said testimony was not made before this Court. Thus, the Presiding Judge could not have taken cognizance thereof,” the order read.

Because of this, Judge Buenaventura said he did not see any compulsion or need for him to disqualify himself or disclose the fact that Attorney Buenaventura is his brother.

The same reason is applied to the non-disclosure of Attorney Buenaventura’s professional engagements with Dayan or Umali.

De Lima’s legal team welcomed Buenaventura’s voluntary inhibition from hearing the case.

“We are saddened by the fact that the Presiding Judge failed to come clean right from the start and disclose his relationship with Attorney Emmanuel Buenaventura – which is both a moral duty and professional responsibility,” De Lima’s defense team said in a statement.

“For this reason, he should really inhibit himself to prevent a clear case of mistrial,” it added.

The team is now seeking the raffle of the case new presiding judge.

The request comes with an intervention from the Supreme Court (SC) maintaining its instruction to the new judge to finish the case within nine months.

“If possible, we are hoping that the SC can take a more proactive role and immediately designate a judge to continue handling this case,” it said.

According to de Lima’s legal counsel Boni Tacardon, while the transfer of the case will cause additional delay, the former senator remains “steadfast in her resolve that her vindication is near.”

De Lima, who was known as a staunch critic of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, has been detained since February 24, 2017 for alleged drug offenses.

This was less than a year after former President Rodrigo Duterte became the president of the Philippines.

The former senator had been acquitted of two out of three drug cases filed against her.

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