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Judge in De Lima drug case guilty of misconduct – SC

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has found a Muntinlupa judge guilty of simple misconduct and neglect of duty for delaying the resolution of former senator Leila de Lima’s petition for bail in 2020.

“No comment,” the office of Judge Romeo Buenaventura of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 256 told The STAR when asked for his statement.

The camp of De Lima, who was acquitted of all three drug charges, filed an administrative complaint against Buenaventura before the Judicial and Integrity Board (JIB) in September 2023 for belatedly inhibiting from the former senator’s third case.

Buenaventura inhibited from the case in June 2023 after reports showed that his brother, Emmanuel, was the legal counsel of the late Oriental Mindoro congressman Reynaldo Umali, who chaired the House justice committee that investigated De Lima’s alleged links to drug trafficking.

Emmanuel assisted Ronnie Dayan, De Lima’s former driver and bodyguard, in executing his affidavit in 2016 implicating the former senator in the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison when she was justice secretary.

Dayan recanted his allegations in 2022.

In a notice of resolution dated Nov. 13, 2024, the SC’s First Division adopted the recommendations of the JIB, finding no reason to sanction Buenaventura for Emmanuel’s ties with Umali.

The high tribunal, however, found Buenaventura liable for letting De Lima’s bail petition languish in his court for nearly three years.

The SC dismissed Buenaventura’s arguments that the pandemic delayed the court proceedings.

“We find that the reasons raised by the respondent are not sufficient justification for the delay in the resolution of the motion for bail,” the court ruled. “Given the summary nature of bail proceedings, it was imperative for the respondent to resolve the motion in the most expeditious manner possible.”

Buenaventura denied De Lima’s bail petition in June 2023.

Following his voluntary inhibition, the case was reassigned to Judge Gener Gito of the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 206, who freed De Lima on bail in November 2023 and acquitted her seven months later.

The SC fined Buenaventura P36,000. — Evelyn Macairan

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