SC denies bid to inhibit Jardeleza in De Lima case

Supreme Court Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza. FILE PHOTO

The Supreme Court has dismissed the bid of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and other complainants against Senator Leila de Lima to inhibit Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza from participating in the oral argument.

“Preliminarily the motion for voluntary inhibition of Justice Jardeleza is denied,” Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said before the start of the oral argument Tuesday.

VACC, together with the United Filipino Seafarers and Republic Defenders, sought Jardeleza’s inhibition for working with De Lima when he was Solicitor General.

The group added that Jardeleza and the senator have been working together since 1987 at the Jardeleza Sobrevinas Hayudini and Bodegon Law Office and at the Office of the late Sen. Raul Roco in the early ’90s. JE/rga