The Muntinlupa City regional trial court judge who denied the plea of former senator Leila M. de Lima and her co-accused to post bail has recused himself from further handling the illegal drugs case.
“In order to preserve the ideal of cold and impartial dispensation of justice by the Court, better part of prudence dictates that herein Presiding Judge should recuse and disassociate himself from further hearing the above-entitled case,” Judge Romeo S. Buenaventura of Muntinlupa City RTC, Branch 256, said in an order issued on June 15.
The order granted the motions filed by De Lima’s co-accused – former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) director general Franklin Jesus B. Bucayu, and Joenel T. Sanchez and Ronnie P. Dayan, former security aide and driver, respectively, of the former senator.
In their motions, the accused sought the inhibition of the judge for being the brother of lawyer Emmanuel S. Buenaventura, who was reportedly the former counsel of late former Oriental Mindoro 2nd District Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Justice that conducted the 2016 hearings on De Lima’s alleged involvement in illegal drugs subject of the case.
Emmanuel was pointed as the one who acted as counsel of Dayan who issued sworn statements on the alleged involvement of De Lima in the illegal drugs trade.
However, Dayan recanted his testimonies and alleged that he was coerced by Umali into making the false statements against De Lima.
Three cases were filed against De Lima and her co-accused. The first case was dismissed on a demurrer to evidence and the dismissal was tantamount to an acquittal. She was acquitted in the second case.
In the third and last case, De Lima and her co-accused were indicted for allegedly receiving P70 million in illegal drugs earnings collected by imprisoned narcotics traders of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
In granting the motions, Judge Buenaventura said “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.”
“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 a member of the Bench to promote confidence in the judicial system,” he stressed.
The judge said that being a brother of the lawyer is “not sufficient to prove that the former acted with malice, bad faith, and partiality in conducting the proceedings in this case, more so in denying the accused’s petitions and motions for bail.”
“The Presiding Judge has no personnel knowledge of the extent of the professional representation or capacity of his brother as Congressman Umali’s legal adviser, since he is not privy thereto,” he pointed out.
He also said he was not even aware that his brother was the one who assisted Dayan in the execution of the affidavit and that the accused issued a recantation in another trial court.
“In view of the foregoing reasons, the Presiding Judge does not see any compulsion for him to disqualify himself or disclose the fact that Atty. Buenaventura is his brother, let alone the latter’s supposed professional engagements with accused Dayan or Congressman Umali,” he said.
The judge assured that he has conducted himself “with cold impartiality of an impartial judge, and no one swayed his judgment and conduct in adjudicating the instant case.”
“He is confident that were it not for the instant motions for his inhibition, he would have handled this case until its finality with the utmost probity and objectivity which he has been upholding the entire time,” he said.