THE Sandiganbayan Third Division has denied for lack of merit a motion for inhibition filed by former senator Ramon Revilla Jr.
Revilla and six others face charges of malversation through falsification in connection with an alleged “ghost project” in Pandi, Bulacan.
The court said that Revilla sought the voluntary inhibition of Associate Justice Karl Miranda, the division chairman, because Miranda’s brother is a lawyer who represented former Public Works undersecretary Roberto Bernardo during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings.
In a resolution promulgated on Feb. 10, 2026, the court noted the brother “is neither a party nor a counsel to any of the parties in this case” and that his assistance to Bernardo “was rendered in a different forum at a different time.”
Bernardo is not a party to the case.
Revilla’s co-accused include Brice Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Arjay Domasig, Emelita Juat, Juanito Mendoza, and Christina Mae Pineda. All the accused are currently detained.
The court ruled that Miranda’s inhibition “without concrete proof of personal interest or bias will set a dangerous precedent.”
“To inhibit in the absence of clear and convincing proof of bias would be a retreat from [our] mandate and a disservice to the court’s core values of Honor, Integrity, and Accountability,” the court said. “Public trust in the judiciary is preserved by judges who... resolve cases on the merits, anchored solely on the evidence and the law, and not by unwarranted recusals.”
Associate Justices Ronald Moreno and Fritz Bryn Anthony Delos Santos concurred with the resolution.
The Office of the Ombudsman filed the case last month. It was raffled to the Third Division, which subsequently issued arrest warrants.
Miranda disclosed about his brother in open court on Jan. 20, the day Revilla was brought before the court after he voluntarily submitted to authorities.
On Monday, the court rescheduled the arraignment of Revilla and Juanito Mendoza to Feb. 16, 2026, due to pending motions.
Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Domasig, Juat, and Pineda have already pleaded not guilty.
Also on Monday, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division entered a not guilty plea for Revilla after he refused to enter one during his arraignment for a related graft case.
Domasig and Mendoza also pleaded not guilty in that division. Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, and Pineda entered their pleas on Jan. 28, while Juat pleaded not guilty on Jan. 23.
