MANILA, Philippines — A former judge in Tacloban City was charged before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan over alleged anomalous grant of bail to two trafficking suspects in 2011.
The Office of the Ombudsman charged Crisologo Bitas, a former presiding judge of Tacloban City Regional Trial Court Branch 7, with two counts of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Based on the charge sheets prepared by assistant special prosecutor Jorge Espinal, Bitas gave "unwarranted benefit" to Danilo Miralles and Lynna Brito, who were then facing cases of qualified trafficking before RTC Branch 7.
The ombudsman said Bitas allowed Miralles and Brito to post bail "absent an application/petition for bail" from the two.
The ombudsman said Bitas issued the resolution granting Miralles and Brito bails was issued on February 2, 2011 without any hearing and despite the charges against the two being a capital crime punishable by life imprisonment.
Under Rule 114 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure, capital crimes punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment are non-bailable unless the accused can prove that the prosecution's evidence is not strong enough to warrant detention while the case is being heard.
The ombudsman said that since the charged crime against Miralles and Brito is punishable by life imprisonment, "bail is not a matter of right" for them.
The ombudsman recommended to the Sandiganbayan to set Bitas' bail bond at P60,000.
In a March 5, 2014 decision, the Supreme Court found Bitas guilty of the administrative offense of gross ignorance of the law in connection with the supposed anomalous granting of bail to Miralles and Brito.
The SC ordered him suspended for three months without pay.
In another decision dated March 18, 2013, the SC fined Bitas P10,000 for summarily holding in contempt a complainant in a case of violence against women then pending before his office. The SC said Bitas penalized the complainant without requiring her to explain her side.