Pasay judge, court clerk suspended for suspected bribery

(Editor’s note: This is a revised version of an earlier story to correct an error. SC Court Administrator Raul Villanueva was NOT arrested but was the one who submitted a report on the alleged bribery incident to the High Court.)

MANILA CITY, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has preventively suspended a Pasay Regional Trial Court Judge and the acting branch clerk of court for being suspected of committing bribery.

In a resolution made public Tuesday, the SC en banc (full court) initiated administrative proceedings against the judge and the acting branch clerk of court after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested the court’s staff for receiving P6 million bribe money.

READ: Chief Justice orders probe into P6-million bribery case vs a Pasay judge

The preventive suspension will be for 90 days.

After the NBI conducted an entrapment operation that led to the arrest of the acting clerk of court, the SC ordered Court Administrator Raul Villanueva to submit a report on the incident.

Based on the Court Administrator’s report, the operation was prompted by an anonymous complaint before the Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) which was sent via email.

After the NBI verified the information, the entrapment operation was set up using five marked P1,000 bills and about P6,000,000 in boodle money.

The judge and the court employee are now the subject of criminal investigation before the Department of Justice.