This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2003-05-06 |
CARPIO, J. |
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| The motion to inhibit Justice Carpio must be denied for three reasons. First, the motion to inhibit came after Justice Carpio had already rendered his opinion on the merits of the case. The rule is that a motion to inhibit must be denied if filed after a member of the Court had already given an opinion on the merits of the case,[1] the rationale being that "a litigant cannot be permitted to speculate upon the action of the Court xxx (only to) raise an objection of this sort after a decision has been rendered." Second, as can be readily gleaned from the summary of the Decision quoted above, the absence of public bidding is not one of the ratio decidendi of the Decision which is anchored on violation of specific provisions of the Constitution. The absence of public bidding was not raised as an issue by the parties. The absence of public bidding was mentioned in the Decision only to complete the discussion on the law affecting reclamation contracts for the guidance of public officials. At any rate, the Office of the Solicitor General in its Motion for Reconsideration concedes that the absence of public bidding in the disposition of the Freedom Islands rendered the Amended JVA null and void.[2] Third, judges and justices are not disqualified from participating in a case just because they have written legal articles on the law involved in the case. As stated by the Court in Republic v. Cocofed,[3] | |||||