THREE Supreme Court justices—including the one in charge of the case—recused themselves from hearing the petition filed by Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and six provincial officials detained by the House of Representatives, delaying a decision on a dispute that pit lawmakers against the Court of Appeals.
Deliberation on the case was delayed Tuesday after Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, who was in charge of the case, recused himself for being related to one of the respondents, House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas.
Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and newly appointed Associate Justice Andres B. Reyes Jr. also inhibited themselves from participating in the resolution of the case.
Sereno and Reyes last month issued a joint statement calling the House to recall its show-cause order against Court of Appeals Associate Justices Stephen Cruz, Edwin Sorongon and Nina Antonio-Valenzuela.
The three justices were part of the Court of Appeals’ Special Fourth Division that ordered the release of the six provincial officials—the so-called “Ilocos Six”—who had been detained in Congress since May 29.
Peralta’s inhibition paved the way for a new raffle to assign the case to another justice.
Deliberations on the case have been moved to July 25, the Court’s next en banc session.
In a petition filed July 13, Marcos and the Ilocos Six asked the Court to stop the House inquiry into the purchase of P66.45 million worth of motor vehicles using funds from the tobacco excise tax, and to issue a writ of amparo to protect the rights of the provincial officials who have been detained for more than a month.
Petitioners cited the “prolonged interrogations, indefinite detention, coerced confessions, presumption of guilt and torture” employed by respondents in earlier hearings.
The Ilocos Six remain in detention at the House while Marcos “has been threatened with arrest and incarceration in a ‘detention chamber’ by the respondents if she refused to participate in proceedings where her failure to answer questions in a matter satisfactory to respondents will lead to a similar fate of indefinite detention.”
The other petitioners—Pedro Agcaoili, Provincial Planning and Development Office chairperson; Josephine Calajate, provincial treasurer; Eden Battulayan, Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; Encarnacion Gaor, Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; Genedine Jambaro, Provincial Treasurer’s Office staff; and Evangeline Tabulog, provincial budget officer—also asked the Court to assume jurisdiction of their petition for habeas corpus now pending before the appeals court.
They elevated the case to the Supreme Court after the House repeatedly and deliberately defied the order of the CA’s Special Fourth Division for their release.
The petition named as respondents Fariñas, House committee chairman and Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel and House sergeant-at-arms Roland Detabali.
Petitioners also assailed the conduct of the House inquiry, saying it violated their constitutional rights.
Marcos lamented that the House inquiry obviously stemmed from her political rivalry with Fariñas in Ilocos Norte as she appealed to lawmakers to spare the Ilocos Six and “just bring the fight back to Ilocos Norte.”