Manila judge grants motion for inhibition from Atio case

FILE: Horacio “Atio” Castillo III (Photo: Horacio Castillo III/Facebook)

Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 40 Judge Alfredo Ampuan ordered a motion for inhibition from the hazing slay case of University of Santo Tomas (UST) freshman law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III.

In a seven-page resolution, Ampuan wrote that the Manila RTC finds it “appropriate to grant the motion for inhibition considering that all the above-mentioned accused and/or respect counsel already nurtured at the back of their minds the thought that the Presiding Judge of this Court has now titled the scales of justice against them.”

Ampuan defended that he sees no reason for him to inhibit from the case, noting that mere imputations of bias or partiality is not an enough ground.

“Extrinsic evidence must be presented to establish bias, bad faith, malice or corrupt purpose, in addition to palpable error which may be inferred from the decision or order,” he added.

However, he came up with the decision to dismiss all malice and doubts of the accused and their relatives.

Three of the ten Aegis Juris members Jose Miguel Salamat, John Robin Ramos, and Danielle Hans Matthew Rodrigo wanted Ampuan’s inhibition from the criminal case against them, citing that the Presiding Judge is the brother-in-law of Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chair Dante Jimenez.

VACC is currently assisting Carmina Castillo and Horacio Jr. Castillo, the parents of the slain student.

Wife of Ampuan, Marilissa Ampuan, is Jimenez’s sister, and because of these ties, the three fratmen accused him of being “incapable of rendering fair and impartial judgment.”

On March 23, the ten Aegis Juris members surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after Ampuan ordered their arrest warrant on March 22.

(Read: Aegis Juris members in Atio case surrender to NBI)

Other members arrested were Marcelino Bagtang, Jr., Arvin Balag, Mhiin Wei Chan, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Axel Munro Hipe, Oliver Onofre, and Ralph Trangia.