QUEZON CITY — The Sandiganbayan Third Division has upheld its previous ruling denying former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.’s second motion seeking the inhibition of Associate Justice Karl Miranda from his malversation case involving an allegedly anomalous ₱92.8-million flood control project in Pandi, Bulacan.
In a resolution dated October 22, the anti-graft court rejected Revilla’s motion for reconsideration, which challenged its earlier September 24 decision.
“The court found the Motion for Reconsideration to be without merit and, accordingly, affirmed the denial of Revilla’s Second Motion for Inhibition,” stated the Third Division’s briefer issued on Friday, October 23.
The court noted that Revilla failed to present fresh and compelling evidence or any new circumstances that would prove bias or prejudice on the part of Justice Miranda, who was the sole division member to vote against granting the former lawmaker bail.
Revilla’s legal team had earlier argued that Miranda should recuse himself due to his familial ties to the counsel of a co-accused, alongside other cumulative factors.
However, the anti-graft court emphasized that judicial impartiality must be measured through the perspective of a reasonable and informed observer rather than the subjective perception of the accused.
“The court acknowledged the duty of every judge to appear impartial, but it underscored that in determining the appearance of impartiality, the circumstances must be measured not based on Revilla’s perception as an accused, but based on the metric of a reasonable, fair-minded, and informed person,” the briefer explained.
The tribunal further clarified that attempting to link Justice Miranda’s vote on the bail petition to his relationship with the lawyer of former DPWH Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo’s counsel was purely speculative and unsupported by evidence.
In a handwritten note concurring with the resolution, Associate Justice Fritz Bryn Anthony Delos Santos highlighted that
“Voluntary inhibition is primarily a matter of conscience and addressed to the sound discretion of the judge or justice concerned,” citing established jurisprudence.
The Office of the Ombudsman previously filed malversation and graft charges against Revilla, former DPWH Bulacan Assistant District Engineer Brice Hernandez, and several others over the controversial infrastructure project awarded to a contractor in Pandi, Bulacan.