Lawyer cites ‘bias’, asks judge to let go of case against teachers

THE legal counsel of the five teachers who were charged in relation to the accidental drowning of two students during a field trip in Bataan is asking a trial court judge to let go of the case.

The Divina and Uy Law Offices in Makati City accused Judge Remigio Escalada Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 3 in Balanga, Bataan of being “biased.”

The defense team led by lawyer Estrella Elamparo, in their pleadings, said the judge, who issued the arrest warrants against the accused, resolved their motions in haste.

The accused—teachers Tyler Herbst, Susan Rigby, Ma. Socorro Laplana, Leah Joy Cabanban, and Geronimo Alguno—are facing reckless imprudence resulting to homicide charges for the accidental drowning of Kyle Gullas-Weckman, 13, and a Korean student last Sept. 12, 2012.

Gullas-Weckman was the grandson of University of the Visayas owner and newspaper publisher Jose “Dodong” Gullas of the Freeman.

Lawyer Celso Espinosa, the lead counsel of the Gullas family in Cebu City, said they are waiting for Escalada to resolve the motion for inhibition as well as the plea to suspend further proceedings filed by the defense lawyers.

“As of now, we’re waiting for the court’s resolution. The arraignment of the accused hasn’t been scheduled also,” he said in a phone interview yesterday.

Espinosa said he believed the move of the defense in filing a motion for inhibition was to delay the proceedings.

“They were given a chance to submit counter-affidavits when the case was still with the Department of Justice (DOJ). When it reached the courts, the defense camp filed several pleadings like judicial determination of probable cause and even a motion to quash the information,” he said.

He, however, refused to discuss further the merits of the case so as not to compromise the proceedings in court. /Ador Vincent S. Mayol