The Supreme Court En Banc has ordered the preventive suspension of a judge and an acting branch clerk of court suspected of committing bribery.
In a Resolution in A.M. No. 24-05-21-SC (Re: Report on the arrest of an employee of Branch 108, Regional Trial Court, Pasay City), the Court today initiated administrative proceedings against Judge Albert T. Cansino (Judge Cansino) and Officer-in-Charge/Acting Branch Clerk of Court Mariejoy P. Lagman (OIC-Acting BCC Lagman), both of Branch 108, Regional Trial Court, Pasay City, for allegedly accepting PHP 6,000,000 from a litigant in exchange for a favorable judgment in a civil case.
To ensure an unhampered formal investigation, the Court placed Judge Cansino and OIC-Acting BCC Lagman on preventive suspension for 90 calendar days.
Following an entrapment operation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) leading to the arrest of OIC-Acting BCC Lagman, the Supreme Court ordered Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva on May 24, 2024 to submit a report on the incident.
According to the report of Court Administrator Villanueva, the operation was prompted by an anonymous complaint the Judicial Integrity Board (JIB) received via email. After the NBI verified the information, the entrapment operation was set using five marked One Thousand Peso bills and about PHP 6,000,000 in boodle money.
In addition to the money, a copy of the Order bearing the Judge’s signature on the civil case was also confiscated.
The report also stated that both the Judge and court employee are now the subject of criminal investigations before the Department of Justice. (Courtesy of the Supreme Court Public Information Office)
