MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) en banc ordered the preventive suspension of a Pasay City judge and employee over alleged bribery.

The SC said on Tuesday, May 28, that it suspended Presiding Judge Albert Cansino of Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 108 and officer-in-charge/acting branch clerk of court Mariejoy Lagman for allegedly accepting P6 million from a litigant in exchange for a favorable judgment in a civil case.

Last week, the SC said Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo directed Court Administrator Raul Villanueva to submit a report about the incident. In its Tuesday statement, the SC said the en banc ordered Cansino and Lagman’s preventive suspension for 90 days to ensure an “unhampered” probe.

Citing the court administrator’s report, the High Court said Lagman was arrested after the National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) entrapment operation. An anonymous complaint sent to the Judicial Integrity Board prompted the operation, the SC said.

The High Court added that the NBI used “five marked One Thousand Peso bills and about P6 million in boodle money” during the operation. Authorities also seized a copy of an order bearing the judge’s signature on the civil case.

Aside from the judiciary’s ongoing investigation, the judge and court employee now face criminal investigation led by the Department of Justice, the SC added.

This was not the first time that a judge was embroiled in a bribing controversy.

In 2014, judges were implicated in the “Ma’am Arlene” controversy, where a big-time fixer shouldered out-of-town and hotel accommodations of judges. Arlene Angeles Lerma was implicated in the controversy and was dubbed as the alleged counterpart of pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles in the judiciary.

After a probe, the SC dismissed former Biñan, Laguna RTC Branch 24 judge Marino Rubia after he was found administratively liable for conduct unbecoming of a judge and violating the code of judicial conduct. – Rappler.com