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By James Konstantin Galvez, Reporter
Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Oscar
Pimentel, who is handling trial of the 31 junior military officers
involved in the Oakwood takeover, formally junked the motion for
inhibition filed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th and 10 of the
co-accused.
“The conscience of the Presiding Judge is
clear. He has not prejudged the case. With his long years in the
bench, spanning a period of 37 years as a Trial Judge, he is aware
that there are times when an accused may impute partiality, bias,
wrongly or incorrectly,” the judge stated in his ruling.
Trillanes and 10 of the co-accused said Pimentel
should voluntarily inhibit himself from the trial as he has already
“prejudged” the case, when he uttered an apparently unwelcome
remark during the December 11 testimony of detained Brig. General
Danilo Lim.
During that occasion, Pimentel reminded Lim that
he was testifying on a supposed agreement between government
negotiators and the Magdaló group, where only five of the core
leaders would be charged with criminal cases in exchange for their
surrender.
When Lim replied affirmatively, Pimentel asked,
“Are you aware, General, that the act committed by these officers
are [sic] not only punishable under the Articles of War but also
under the Revised Penal Code?”
Trillanes and his co-accused said they were
“utterly surprised, shocked and mortified” by the question
raised by the presiding judge.
The accused-petitioners also cited Pimentel’s
denial of a motion filed by defense lawyer Rene Saguisag that he be
allowed to present his client’s evidence in February or March
2008 because of his near-fatal accident last month.
Besides Trillanes, those who signed the petition
were Lt. Senior Grades James Layug, Eugene Louie Gonzalez, Andy
Torrato and Manuel Cabochan; Lt. Junior Grade Arturo Pascua; Ensign
Armand Pontejos; Marine Capt. Gary Alejano; and former Navy Petty
Officers Cesari Gonzalez and Julius Mesa.
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